Pedoscope, by the Pedoscope Company Limited, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England, 1948-1953

This machine presented a picture of the bones in your foot and an outline of your shoes. Although there was little evidence to suggest that these devices would help you find perfectly fitting shoes, they were a fairly common sight in shoe shops from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Their use declined after scientists began to understand the risks associated with excessive exposure to X-rays.