The Thoe!!!!! (32/366)

(32/366)

Have you guys heard of The Thoe????

I LOVE The Thoe.

The Thoe is a toe thumb. The Thoe is also totally a real thing.

When I was little, my favorite exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science was this tiny little display about The Thoe. As time has gone on, the exhibits have changed and been updated, but The Thoe exhibit is still there, right to the right of the entrance to the exhibit about how babies are made.

It’s a four foot by six foot window with a bunch of plaster models of hand deformations. Then, in the bottom left corner is a tiny, ancient TV playing, probably a VHS of a story of a man who lost his thumb in some sort of accident. It was decided that it’s easier to live without a big toe than without a thumb, so doctors cut off his big toe and sewed it back on where is thumb should be. Apparently it work as a functioning thumb and he’s doing just fine. (I could only find a link to this article about a guy who had this done in 2011, but the video I watched was definitely from the early eighties.)

It was, and still is, my favorite exhibit at the Museum of Science. I’m not sure what it is about The Thoe, but I’ve always found it particularly fascinating. Andrew recreated The Thoe for me (don’t worry, he didn’t cut off his thumb) tonight. If he had to have a thoe, it would look super weird because he has a giant big toe. I guess all we can hope for is that he is careful with his thumb placement when using sharp objects.