A mannequin goes to space!

And other stories of unused uses of mannequins ...

In addition to its normal use as the best sellers in the fashionable area that a store can have, mannequins are often used in completely different areas as recently reported when they were shipped into space on a test flight from Jeff Bezzos's company, Blue Origin, which wants to send tourists to Earth orbit.

The mannequin, nicknamed Manequin Skywalker, as a joke on the original Star Wars name of Darth Vader (Anakin Skywalker) traveled for 10 minutes in space to reach 99 km in height and returned safely in a reusable rocket. Bezzos says people can have this experience in about 18 months.

You can see the full video at this link

But this is not the first time dummies are used "creatively" and out of their original context. Mannequin comes from the Flemish manikin - a small man - and refers back to its origin, when the fashionistas who fashioned dresses, traveled through Europe from kingdom to kingdom, showing their creations in dolls so that the ladies could visualize them and make their orders.

Mannequins have also been used as war tools since the Middle Ages. During the siege of the castles, defenders used "mannequins" of straw to test the attackers' attention down the walls. If they were not attacked, it was a good time to leave the siege, if they were shot, they were collected and their arrows reused against their offenders. In the second war, parachute cloth mannequins were used to test areas guarded by anti-aircraft batteries. If they were not hit, the real paratroopers were then launched.

During the Cold War period, as problems between the United States and the Soviet Union intensified, Americans were testing their atomic bombs in the Nevada desert. Due to the great repetition of tests, a village was created in the middle of the desert using mannequins as inhabitants, with houses, canned foods and other daily items of the traditional American family. All to simulate what would be the effects of the explosion of these bombs in a real scenario. Mannequins were positioned in various ways: sitting, hiding, and even eating. Everything to portray what would happen at the time of an explosion, the results were used to assemble the defense planning of the cities.

Of course the arts are also an area rich in examples of creative uses, as in the photo that illustrates the article, a rocket made of female mannequins in Birgit Dieker's Crazy Daisy or the polemical work of Allen Jones in 1969, called the Hatter, Table and Chair .

With an erotic imprint, the work went unnoticed at the time and was the subject of rabid feminist protest by the literal "objectification" of the woman. A set of these was acquired by German playboy Gunther Sachs at its launch and sold at a Sothebys auction in 2012 for 2.6 million pounds sterling.

In addition, as excellent sellers, they are often used to sell ideas in educational campaigns like these that have used them to raise funds for homeless people and to warn about teenage pregnancy.

But it is in the fashion world that the mannequins demonstrate their strength. What was already perceived in an empirical way by merchandisers and professionals of visual merchandising gained scientific support. The NPD Group, an American research company, has revealed that mannequins are the second most important factor in selling fashion, only behind the opinion of friends and family who accompany you on purchases! Are they great sellers or not?