Houdini
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This 1790 Invention Replaced Insane Asylum Chains | Object Histories
In 1790, a Paris asylum orderly named Guillaume Ferrus sewed a canvas jacket to replace the iron chains patients had worn for centuries — and it was genuinely seen as an act of mercy. This is the full story of the straitjacket: from Bedlam’s chained wards, through the reform movements of Pinel and Tuke, to…