
Monocles Were Never Cool
Unlike other trappings of the aristocracy, the monocle has mostly been a joke since its invention. An Object Lesson.
Unlike other trappings of the aristocracy, the monocle has mostly been a joke since its invention. An Object Lesson.
The popular way to keep warm outdoors owes a debt to World War II–era clothing science. An Object Lesson.
A schoolteacher created the popular board game, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, for quarantined children. An Object Lesson.
In 1960, a Rubbermaid executive invented a device to tame noise in the home. Its impact has been anything but quiet. An Object Lesson.
So why do they still exist? An Object Lesson.
Americans’ dairy consumption is about to get a lot more cultured. An Object Lesson.
Wearables help cast the medical test as a talisman of health-care competence. An Object Lesson.
Strategists considered sacrificing older pilots to patrol the skies in flying reactors. An Object Lesson.
And how it should be used instead. An Object Lesson.
Even when it goes wrong, body art in another tongue can be a good thing. An Object Lesson.
I learned English—and Western culture—watching American movies in smoky minibuses. An Object Lesson.
The selburose design wasn’t invented in Norway, but it became a symbol of the country. An Object Lesson.
Law and medicine still rely on the device. Maybe they shouldn’t. An Object Lesson.
Companies and apps constantly ask for ratings, but all that data may just be noise in the system. An Object Lesson.
Before they were relegated to the domain of children, books with movable mechanisms explained anatomy, astronomy, and more to adults. An Object Lesson.
Private-labeled teas helped fund success during the suffragist movement. Today’s activists might learn from their model. An Object Lesson.
Anxieties about the effects of screens on human health are hardly new, but the way the public addresses the problems has changed. An Object Lesson.
Childhood is short-lived. It’s okay if kids’ drawings are, too. An Object Lesson.
The origins of an 18th-century timepiece are part of an American institution even older than its financial system: embellishing facts. An Object Lesson.
Writing boxes, popular from the 17th century, provided the same pleasure as today’s laptops and custom word processors: to make the experience of writing pleasurable, whether any actual writing gets done. An Object Lesson.
Since the 1960s, the reference book has cataloged how people actually use language, not how they should. That might be changing. An Object Lesson.
Millions of publications—not to mention spy documents—can be read on microfilm machines. But people still see these devices as outmoded and unappealing. An Object Lesson.
When they were invented, the vessels promised to revolutionize travel and industry. But they soon settled into life as an entertaining diversion. An Object Lesson.
Is the banner’s patriotism undermined when it’s manufactured abroad? An Object Lesson.
Commemorative class books evolved from practical notebooks into collections of hair clippings, rhyming couplets, and “have a great summer” wishes. An Object Lesson.
Before and after Prohibition, temperance organizations turned the whiskey or beer vessel into a personification of American moral failure.
It’s often called the optic that best approximates human vision, but approximation is relative. An Object Lesson.
How the postal letter became a tool for ingenious criminality. An Object Lesson.
As people spent more and more time in cars, auto interiors transformed into living spaces, where food and drink became necessities. An Object Lesson.
Advances in biking gear had an impact on advances in gender equality. An Object Lesson.
Glass has changed the world like no other substance, but people usually overlook it. An Object Lesson.
Before two deadly nuclear mishaps, scientists used to risk “tickling the tail of a sleeping dragon.” An Object Lesson.
Invented centuries ago in France, the bidet has never taken off in the States. That might be changing.
The gynecological apparatus, designed by men, has a sordid history. An Object Lesson.
Rockets and turbofans have promised to realize dreams of transportation progress—for decades. An Object Lesson.
Lockers and sleeves for phones can feel like an infringement on personal rights, but they also might save people from their worst habits. An Object Lesson.
Cloud-connected medical devices save lives, but also raise questions about privacy, security, and oversight. An Object Lesson.
Elixir Sulfanilamide was a breakthrough antibiotic—until it killed more than 100 people. An Object Lesson.
Doing so has appealed to people for centuries, but the power of a gratitude list can be misused. An Object Lesson.
Women have long borrowed from men’s dress to claim the authority associated with it. It hasn’t always worked. An Object Lesson.
Around the world, the document establishes legal, social, and economic legitimacy. But it also makes compromises. An Object Lesson.
Carl Linnaeus, the father of biological taxonomy, also had a hand in inventing this tool for categorizing anything. An Object Lesson.
When industrial fertilizer replaced dung heaps, its spoils helped fund the spread of plastics. An Object Lesson.
The Wardian case made intercontinental plant transport possible—and helped spread empires. An Object Lesson.
The national survey offers more identity choices than ever—until those choices get scrubbed away. An Object Lesson.
In the medieval church, “incorrupt” remains signaled virtue, chastity, and holiness. An Object Lesson.
The human skeleton inspires wonder and terror because it lasts much longer than its owner. An Object Lesson.
The upper classes once imposed the fashion staple on their servants—then they stole it back from them. An Object Lesson.
The aviator’s hazard offers a lesson about responding to supposed crises. An Object Lesson.
An engineer sheds light on the ball’s much-debated curve. An Object Lesson.
Once a cask that held crude, the oil barrel is now mostly an economic concept. An Object Lesson.
For centuries, lightning rods have tamed the heavens, more or less unchanged. An Object Lesson.
Cards have been used for gambling, divination, and even commerce. But where did their “pips” come from? An Object Lesson.
People have done it for centuries. Maybe everyone still should. An Object Lesson.
Cooling the air was once seen as sinful. Maybe the idea wasn’t entirely wrong. An Object Lesson.
For a century, the device has promised more than dry hair. An Object Lesson.
When photography was new, it was often used to preserve corpses via their images. An Object Lesson.
Thank the French. An Object Lesson.
Ramps evolved from a Greek tool for dragging ships to the front lines of disability activism. An Object Lesson.
The White House wants to reinstate the sale of horses for slaughter, but eating horse meat has always been politically treacherous. An Object Lesson.