These pictures show assistive devices for shoemaking and tailoring that were designed at the Belgian re-educational institute at Port-Villez, Northern France, for disabled Great War soldiers. For some apprentices, the traditional positions of these trades provoked great fatigue and soreness, even with the support of prosthetics or orthotics.
The experiences of several Belgian soldiers who could not be helped by the emancipatory initiative of orthopaedical rehabilitation towards full labour productivity, compelled the institute to fundamentally re-interpret the scientific engineerability and categorizability of the human body. Consequently, it designed assistive technologies to balance the psychological and sensory capacities of these disabled soldiers with the need to optimize efficiency and to include them as workers in society.
Traditionally, shoe-making was performed on a stool with a shoe clasped between the thighs. This was a difficult working position for men with an above-knee amputation. To relieve this discomfort, the school of Port-Villez designed swivel and cushion chairs with a stump support and a bench-vice to fixate the shoe.
For tailors with a leg paralysis and pelvic injuries, a round cut-away in the electric sewing table made it easier to sit closer and the motor could be operated with a leg brace connected to a handle underneath the table. An adjustable air cushion made it possible to work while sitting or leaning on crutches.
© 1917, Réseau-Canopé – National Museum of Education of Rouen, n° 0003.00542.22.
© Marisa De Picker