Alex Parry, Ph.D.
@safetyworkhstm.bsky.social
Historian of home injuries, public health, and product safety at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. Former Ph.D. student and graduate worker organizer at Johns Hopkins. Still frustrated and/or over-caffeinated.
I’m appalled to see the following disclaimer on the CDC website:
“The Trump Admin. is working to reopen the government for the American people. Mission-critical activities of CDC will continue during the Democrat-led government shutdown.”
Arsonists complaining about a fire.
“The Trump Admin. is working to reopen the government for the American people. Mission-critical activities of CDC will continue during the Democrat-led government shutdown.”
Arsonists complaining about a fire.
October 6, 2025 at 8:14 PM
I’m appalled to see the following disclaimer on the CDC website:
“The Trump Admin. is working to reopen the government for the American people. Mission-critical activities of CDC will continue during the Democrat-led government shutdown.”
Arsonists complaining about a fire.
“The Trump Admin. is working to reopen the government for the American people. Mission-critical activities of CDC will continue during the Democrat-led government shutdown.”
Arsonists complaining about a fire.
The budgeting meme about scented candles, but with history of medicine artifacts:
September 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
The budgeting meme about scented candles, but with history of medicine artifacts:
“Kid will love these! What could possibly go wrong?”
August 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM
“Kid will love these! What could possibly go wrong?”
The latest addition to my growing collection of safety artifacts: the Suzy Homemaker Super-Grill, complete with A/C current, a working heating pan, and a set of particularly scary warning labels.
August 9, 2025 at 4:30 AM
The latest addition to my growing collection of safety artifacts: the Suzy Homemaker Super-Grill, complete with A/C current, a working heating pan, and a set of particularly scary warning labels.
Along similar lines, I find this moment from the Venture Bros. cartoon darkly funny:
July 18, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Along similar lines, I find this moment from the Venture Bros. cartoon darkly funny:
I am cursed.
I’ve somehow been on the receiving end of a 4+ hour delay on three consecutive flights this summer.
I’ve somehow been on the receiving end of a 4+ hour delay on three consecutive flights this summer.
July 17, 2025 at 4:23 AM
I am cursed.
I’ve somehow been on the receiving end of a 4+ hour delay on three consecutive flights this summer.
I’ve somehow been on the receiving end of a 4+ hour delay on three consecutive flights this summer.
You know you’re having a rough time when your inbox looks like this:
June 24, 2025 at 3:51 PM
You know you’re having a rough time when your inbox looks like this:
I’ve looked at hundreds of toy ads, but this one is especially unhinged.
“Suzy Homemaker is a square!
She doesn’t wear love beads. She wears shoes […] She gets more fun out of being a cook than a kook.”
“Suzy Homemaker is a square!
She doesn’t wear love beads. She wears shoes […] She gets more fun out of being a cook than a kook.”
June 16, 2025 at 8:04 PM
I’ve looked at hundreds of toy ads, but this one is especially unhinged.
“Suzy Homemaker is a square!
She doesn’t wear love beads. She wears shoes […] She gets more fun out of being a cook than a kook.”
“Suzy Homemaker is a square!
She doesn’t wear love beads. She wears shoes […] She gets more fun out of being a cook than a kook.”
Motorized wringer washers, for example, caused over 100,000 injuries per year, 60% of which affected children under the age of 15.
Wringers were able to draw body parts and loose clothing between the rollers of the machine, peeling away skin, tearing tissue, and crushing bones. 4/x
Wringers were able to draw body parts and loose clothing between the rollers of the machine, peeling away skin, tearing tissue, and crushing bones. 4/x
May 9, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Motorized wringer washers, for example, caused over 100,000 injuries per year, 60% of which affected children under the age of 15.
Wringers were able to draw body parts and loose clothing between the rollers of the machine, peeling away skin, tearing tissue, and crushing bones. 4/x
Wringers were able to draw body parts and loose clothing between the rollers of the machine, peeling away skin, tearing tissue, and crushing bones. 4/x
Before the establishment of the CPSC in 1972, consumer goods were a steady source of injuries.
At the time, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare estimated that product-related accidents accounted for 20 million injuries, 110,000 permanent disabilities, and 30,000 deaths per year. 2/x
At the time, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare estimated that product-related accidents accounted for 20 million injuries, 110,000 permanent disabilities, and 30,000 deaths per year. 2/x
May 9, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Before the establishment of the CPSC in 1972, consumer goods were a steady source of injuries.
At the time, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare estimated that product-related accidents accounted for 20 million injuries, 110,000 permanent disabilities, and 30,000 deaths per year. 2/x
At the time, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare estimated that product-related accidents accounted for 20 million injuries, 110,000 permanent disabilities, and 30,000 deaths per year. 2/x
With enough practice, a kid with a magic knife can reach the 36th chamber:
April 18, 2025 at 12:23 AM
With enough practice, a kid with a magic knife can reach the 36th chamber:
Another toy to add to the “how” and “why” list.
April 17, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Another toy to add to the “how” and “why” list.
Come for the history, stay for the amazing advertisements:
April 16, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Come for the history, stay for the amazing advertisements:
I wrote something!
Excited to see my article on home laundry safety in print in Technology and Culture.
I show how safety experts and the public worked to control the risks of laundry appliances, reducing accidents but making homemakers responsible for their own safety as buyers and housekeepers.
Excited to see my article on home laundry safety in print in Technology and Culture.
I show how safety experts and the public worked to control the risks of laundry appliances, reducing accidents but making homemakers responsible for their own safety as buyers and housekeepers.
April 16, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I wrote something!
Excited to see my article on home laundry safety in print in Technology and Culture.
I show how safety experts and the public worked to control the risks of laundry appliances, reducing accidents but making homemakers responsible for their own safety as buyers and housekeepers.
Excited to see my article on home laundry safety in print in Technology and Culture.
I show how safety experts and the public worked to control the risks of laundry appliances, reducing accidents but making homemakers responsible for their own safety as buyers and housekeepers.
NEH funded this conference, which was formative for my career. The conference has led to multiple collaborations, a working group, and a series of grant and curriculum projects.
NEH should be properly funded and protected from political opportunists who don’t understand or support its mission.
NEH should be properly funded and protected from political opportunists who don’t understand or support its mission.
April 4, 2025 at 3:12 PM
NEH funded this conference, which was formative for my career. The conference has led to multiple collaborations, a working group, and a series of grant and curriculum projects.
NEH should be properly funded and protected from political opportunists who don’t understand or support its mission.
NEH should be properly funded and protected from political opportunists who don’t understand or support its mission.
How I’m feeling today:
March 19, 2025 at 7:08 PM
How I’m feeling today:
Ever vigilant, Zorro surveys her territory:
March 7, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Ever vigilant, Zorro surveys her territory:
Spent the last two days at the archives of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, which has some phenomenal ads for its holiday SoberRide service. SoberRide offers $15 discounts on rides home after having a drink out on special occasions like Halloween:
February 25, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Spent the last two days at the archives of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program, which has some phenomenal ads for its holiday SoberRide service. SoberRide offers $15 discounts on rides home after having a drink out on special occasions like Halloween:
These comments from a child playing with a Barbie for a market research study took a strange turn…
“Her husband has a big boat… they go to the country, play ball… they went swimming… she got pregnant. She got sick and after the baby was due in a week, the baby died. They had to take the baby away.”
“Her husband has a big boat… they go to the country, play ball… they went swimming… she got pregnant. She got sick and after the baby was due in a week, the baby died. They had to take the baby away.”
February 12, 2025 at 4:51 PM
These comments from a child playing with a Barbie for a market research study took a strange turn…
“Her husband has a big boat… they go to the country, play ball… they went swimming… she got pregnant. She got sick and after the baby was due in a week, the baby died. They had to take the baby away.”
“Her husband has a big boat… they go to the country, play ball… they went swimming… she got pregnant. She got sick and after the baby was due in a week, the baby died. They had to take the baby away.”
Psychologist Ernest Dichter summarizing parent concerns about Barbie dolls in 1959:
“The Doll Is Too ‘Sexy.’”
“The Doll Is Too ‘Sexy.’”
February 11, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Psychologist Ernest Dichter summarizing parent concerns about Barbie dolls in 1959:
“The Doll Is Too ‘Sexy.’”
“The Doll Is Too ‘Sexy.’”
A masterclass in how not to respond to consumer complaints, especially when they involve a potential choking hazard:
January 17, 2025 at 7:56 PM
A masterclass in how not to respond to consumer complaints, especially when they involve a potential choking hazard:
There are also hints of the broader medical context of the handbook. This image includes a child with leg braces, which may have been a reference to children recovering from polio.
January 16, 2025 at 6:45 PM
There are also hints of the broader medical context of the handbook. This image includes a child with leg braces, which may have been a reference to children recovering from polio.
These images are fascinating lenses on the ways certain activities were supposed to socialize children and, equally crucially, to “normalize” disabled or atypical bodies. This program not only tried to expand the market for BB guns but was also cast as a form of physical and social therapy.
January 16, 2025 at 6:35 PM
These images are fascinating lenses on the ways certain activities were supposed to socialize children and, equally crucially, to “normalize” disabled or atypical bodies. This program not only tried to expand the market for BB guns but was also cast as a form of physical and social therapy.
It’s a testament to the cultural power of firearms that the Daisy Mfg. Co. was able to partner with Gillette State Hospital for Crippled Children to provide BB gun training to disabled children during the 1960s:
January 16, 2025 at 6:27 PM
It’s a testament to the cultural power of firearms that the Daisy Mfg. Co. was able to partner with Gillette State Hospital for Crippled Children to provide BB gun training to disabled children during the 1960s: