X-Ray Specs

Hilarious Optical Illusion!

This is probably the most recognized advertisement for a novelty item ever published. X-Ray Specs are supposed to allow the user to see through or into solid objects. In reality, the glasses merely create an optical illusion – no X-rays are involved at all.

X-Ray Specs were long advertised with the slogan “See the bones in your hand, see through clothes!”. This version of the advertisement features an illustration of a young man using the X-Ray Specs while gazing at a voluptuous (but fully-dressed) woman in the background, as though he is actually viewing through her clothing.

The claim is untrue, of course; besides the unlikelihood of a safe and functional X-ray device selling for about a dollar, X-ray detectors require an X-ray source.