A Meaningless Exhibit

I have written a number of times about exhibits at one of Mexico City's more eccentric museums... El Museo del Objeto del Objeto (The Museum of the Object of the Object).  The museum has a collection of of over 140 thousand mundane objects from Mexico from the last 200 years.  Several temporary exhibits are shown each year drawing from that collection.  For example, I have seen an exhibit of memorabilia from Mexican Presidential campaigns, and an exhibit of Mexican health and beauty products over the years.

Right now there is a show called "La Exposición sin Sentido"... the Meaningless Exposition.  The name is appropriate.  I still don't know what the point of the show was, other than the fact that it was inspired by the art movements of Dadaism and Surrealism.

The one section of the exhibit which I found somewhat amusing was a room full of machines and gadgets.  The identification of each was slightly hidden to the side, and you had to guess the object's use.  I'll let you guess what these things are, and I'll put the answers at the end.

1.

2.

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5.

6.

7.

1.  A heliograph (1957)  I had to look that one up.  A heliograph sends telegraphic messages through flashes of sunlight.

2. The mechanism of a clock (1930)

3.  A base for shining shoes (1900)

4.  A machine for putting corks into bottles (1906)

5.  A comb for teasing hair (date unknown)

6.  An air compressor (date unknown)

7.  A postage scale for weighing letters (1909)

This object's purpose was unknown even to the museum curators.  Visitors could write down their guesses.

The most whimsical guess was a Victorian fairy trap.