Nicolon Silver Pocket Inhaler, Swiss Patent, c.1920

Somewhere around 1920, a Swiss engineer looked at the common cold and said: not today. The result was the Nicolon pocket inhaler — a precision-machined silver tube that slips into your breast pocket and makes you look considerably more interesting than anyone else at the pharmacy.

The body is a beautifully proportioned cylinder with a waist — slightly concave in the middle, which is either ergonomic genius or just very good-looking, probably both. Both ends unscrew via knurled collars (satisfying to operate, we won't lie), and the cap is stamped on top with + Patent Swiss made, because the Swiss were not shy about letting you know. The name Nicolon is engraved in flowing script along the body. Someone clearly cared.

Originally designed to hold a cotton wick soaked in menthol-eucalyptus essence — one short draw and your airways opened like a window in spring. The essence is long gone, but the object remains: a small, elegant piece of early 20th-century wellness culture, when medicine came in silver tubes and smelled of eucalyptus.

• Swiss-made pocket inhaler, brand: Nicolon, c.1920
• Silver-toned metal, knurled collars, double-ended screw cap
• + Patent Swiss made stamped on cap
• Nicolon engraved in script on body
• Good condition — age-appropriate patina and minor surface marks
• 6 × 1.3 cm, 23 g
• Switzerland, c.1920

WARNING: Does not come with menthol essence. Does come with 100 years of Swiss engineering credibility.