Bizarre Objects Swallowed By Kids Are On Display At The Boston Children's Hospital
Boston Children's Hospital has a collection that dates back to 1918.
Boston Children’s Hospital has turned a strange part of pediatric medicine into a framed time capsule, and the result is hard to look away from. For decades, the ENT department has removed all kinds of odd objects from children’s ears, noses, throats, and airways, then kept the most memorable ones instead of tossing them out.
The collection includes items dating back to 1918, from a doll’s hand and a chicken claw to a campaign pin for Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1940 reelection. It is equal parts unsettling and fascinating, and it says a lot about how often kids test the limits of curiosity.
Scroll on for a closer look at the bizarre objects that ended up in the hospital’s display case.
A peek at the framed collection outside Boston Children's Hospital ENT department
Katherine C. Cohen/Boston Children's Hospital
giphyRoosevelt campaign pin removed from a child’s esophagus on Nov. 2, 1940
Charles Krupa/AP Photo
A tea cup hook
Charles Krupa/AP Photo
Cross removed from esophagus in 1950
Charles Krupa/AP Photo
Cotton swab recovered from a child’s windpipe in 1944
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
A straight pin recovered from a child’s esophagus in 1918.
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
A thumbtack recovered from a child’s lung in 1949
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
This reminded me of those vintage photos showing your grandparents doing things that would be unthinkable today.
I think pins may be too much for me to stomach.
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A toy pin recovered from a child’s esophagus in 1929.
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
Toy rooster recovered from the esophagus of a young patient
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
A Scottie dog trinket
Charles Krupa/AP Photo
Gold wire removed from a child’s esophagus in 1940
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
Doll's hand removed from the larynx of a child in 1931
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
"Bell in esophagus," 1945
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
A plastic ring removed from a young patient’s esophagus in 1945.
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
Doll's eye removed from a young patient's mouth in 1944
Charles Krupa/AP Photo
A chicken claw removed from a child via laryngoscopy in 1940
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
Sardine key removed from a child’s esophagus in 1942
Alissa Ambrose/STAT
This collection serves as a reminder to parents to be vigilant
Charles Krupa/AP Photo
Fun fact: the doctor who removed a doll’s eye from a child’s mouth in 1944 is also the source of inspiration for the collection. A note inside the framed display explains: "It stands in tribute to Charles F. Ferguson, M.D., who dedicated his thirty-five-year career at Children’s Hospital to the preservation of the pediatric airway."
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After seeing pins and tacks pulled from kids, read how a 14-year-old was hurt by a “fire-breathing” challenge, and why authorities warned parents to monitor social media.
