Comment of the Day: What Else Left Midtown When Richmond Ave Met Wheeler St.

COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT ELSE LEFT MIDTOWN WHEN RICHMOND AVE MET WHEELER ST. “In addition to the Delman Theater, an adjacent retailer named the Delman Juvenile Shop was also destroyed. The popular 1950s children’s clothing store featured a behemoth machine, the “Shoe-Fitting Fluoroscope,” that zapped the kids’ feet with unshielded x-rays, ostensibly to make sure the new shoes were a correct fit. In reality, it was used as a babysitter while Mom shopped. I couldn’t wait to grow tall enough to actually peer down the metal tube to view my wiggling skeletal toe bones.” [Patsy Schillaci, commenting on Comment of the Day: The Delman Theater Lives On, on Google Maps] Photo of Delman Theater and adjacent retail: Predator [license]

2 Comment

  • Wow, I’d heard of these fluoroscopes but never have seen one!
    So weird how consumers were to defer to the x-ray to tell them if a shoe fit. While stationary.
    How bout if the shoe wearer just said whether it was comfortable. When walking?!

  • Kids aren’t truthful when you ask them if the new shoes they’re trying on are comfortable or feel too short, too wide, too long, etc. To them, it’s all about the way those new shoes look! Also, back in the day, people (including some medical practitioners) weren’t aware that unshielded x-ray machines and floroscopes were a potential health hazard.