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The Toxic Book of Faces

Sidedoor

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The History of the Physiognetrace

Wendy Balian says the Physiognetrace was first popularized in the United States at the Peel Museum in Philadelphia. Visitors could pay one cent to make a silhouette tracing of their own face. You would place your head against a small concave support, and with a piece of brass attached to a mechanical arm, you'd trace your own profile. As you moved the piece of brass along your face, the mechanical arm would translate that exact movement to a pen which traced your profile onto a folded piece of paper.

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