I remember going into department stores with my mother in the 50s. They all had foot-sizing machines. You stepped on the machine and put the front of your body against it. You could look down in the machine and see the dark outlines of your feet wearing shoes. Then your size would come up on the screen.
When I was in HS the machines disappeared. The x-rays were said to make people sterile.
I remember seeing those machines, but was never fitted with one. We had the wooden foot measure, and then they graduated to the metal ones. We didn’t have a car, and whenever one of us got sick, our family doctor still made house calls. I think he charged my mother two bucks to come to the house. I always ended up with earaches, and he’d have to give me a penicillin shot in my butt. I ended up having to have my tonsils out when I was five. I can still remember the smell of the ether or chloroform they used. They put a strainer like gadget over my nose and mouth, and the last thing I remember seeing is the big light overhead, and spots in front of my eyes. The only thing I wanted was for my mother to buy me a Princess Summerfallwinterspring marionette from The Howdy Doody Show. She got me one too. I was the baby of the family, and she spoiled me.