A Prisoner Tests a Safety Net
This might look like one of Santa’s elves testing out a sleigh without reindeer, but this 1958 photo was not as fun as it sounds. The man was actually a prisoner perched on this sled to see if the safety net was actually safe. If the outcome was good, then more of the nets would be produced. If not, the prisoner would go splat. While this might sound grim, capital punishment was fairly common throughout the United States and prison authorities had no issues using death row inmates for these dangerous tests since they were headed for the electric chair anyway.
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