Book excerpt: Hundreds of 19th- and 20th-century curiosities and contraptions are catalogued in this amusing assembly of more than 1,000 images. The days from the first Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851 to the post-WWII Festival of Britain saw rapid technological advancement throughout the United Kingdom and elsewhere, and countless numbers of products, from the ingenious to the idiotic, appeared on the market. Twenty-two sections divided into time- and money-saving devices, kitchen utensils, gadgets for ladies and gentlemen, trains, bikes, autos, and many more, recall these bygone products. Some, like the moustache spoon, clearly served a need amid polite Victorian society. However, less scrupulous merchants also hawked gizmos like the nose shaper and the asthma-curing necklace. Marvel at the multitude of devices humankind has conceived, some of which could be considered forerunners of modern-day conveniences like smartphones and computers.