Measuring feet with a dose of radiation
The shoe size measuring apparatus that Mike Bickford remembers from his childhood was at the cutting edge of modern technology, like something from science fiction.
And after a bit of detective footwork Mike, from Oswestry, has discovered what it was – a Pedoscope.
As these machines zapped customers and operators alike with radiation, you can understand why they are not used today, although they don't seem to have yielded significant advantages on traditional methods anyway – it seems at least some shops thought they were more of a gimmick than a useful tool for measuring shoe size.
"When I was a young child in the late 1940s to early 1950s I can remember my mother buying shoes for me from a shop at the top of Mardol in Shrewsbury. It may have been Timpson's," says Mike.
"I remember standing with my feet inside the machine and via a small screen at the top it was possible to see a live picture of your feet inside the shoes.
"I have thought about this over the years and although I am reasonably technically minded I can only think of an X-ray machine that would be capable of doing this.
"I have mentioned this to many of my friends of the same age but none can recall this machine. It may of course be due to the fact that these machines were not widespread, but I can clearly remember them.
"However a friend has since come up with the answer. The machine was called a Pedoscope."
Mike says it was hazardous both for the customer and the staff.
The machines were in use in British shoe shops from the 1930s to around the early 1960s and used X-rays to view the customer's feet without the need to take the shoes off.
The fluorescent image of the foot bones within the shoe were viewed through a hole in the top of the cabinet by the shoe fitter. There were other viewing ports for the child and the parent.
Despite the safety concerns about radiation the Pedoscope was never banned in Britain, but gradually faded out of use.
