Health & Medicine

The Museum's collections of medical science artifacts represent nearly all aspects of health and medical practice. Highlights include early X-ray apparatuses, such as one of Wilhelm Roentgen's tubes, penicillin mold from Alexander Fleming’s experiments, and Jonas Salk's original polio vaccine. More recent acquisitions include the first artificial heart implanted in a human, the earliest genetically engineered drugs, and materials related to David, the "Bubble Boy." Other artifacts range from artificial limbs and implant devices to bloodletting and dental instruments, beauty products, and veterinary equipment. The contents of a medieval apothecary shop and an 1890s drugstore form part of the collections, along with patent and alternative medicines. The collections also document the many differing perspectives on health and medical issues, from patients, family members, doctors, nurses, medical students, and out-of-the-mainstream health practitioners.

Steel safety razor with a “GEM” inscription. An inscription on the cardboard box reads “We guarantee the perfection / and shave satisfaction of this / Gem Safety Razor and its / marvelous Gem Double-Life / Blade.
Description
Steel safety razor with a “GEM” inscription. An inscription on the cardboard box reads “We guarantee the perfection / and shave satisfaction of this / Gem Safety Razor and its / marvelous Gem Double-Life / Blade. Gem blades are sold / everywhere and always run / 100% perfect to the package.”
Ref: Ad for Gem Double Life Blades in Popular Mechanics (Feb. 1926): 162.
Location
Currently not on view (cardboard box; paper inserts)
date made
ca 1923
maker
Gem Safety Razor Corporation
ID Number
1985.0481.230
accession number
1985.0481
catalog number
1985.0481.230
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
Lashbrow Laboratories Co.
ID Number
MG.293320.0941
catalog number
293320.0941
accession number
293320
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1929
maker
H. K. Mulford Company
ID Number
MG.M-02696
catalog number
M-02696
accession number
107349
The McIntosh Electrical Corporation of Chicago, successor to the McIntosh Battery & Optical Co., made apparatus for physiotherapy. An inscription on the face of this high voltage, low current machine reads “THE MCINTOSH NO. 5 / POLYSINE / TRADE MARK U.S. PAT. OFF. APP.
Description
The McIntosh Electrical Corporation of Chicago, successor to the McIntosh Battery & Optical Co., made apparatus for physiotherapy. An inscription on the face of this high voltage, low current machine reads “THE MCINTOSH NO. 5 / POLYSINE / TRADE MARK U.S. PAT. OFF. APP. FOR / SER. NO. . . / OPERATES ON DIRECT CURRENT / MFD. BY / MCINTOSH.”
Ref: J. M. Martin, Practical Electro-Therapeutics and X-Ray Therapy (St. Louis, 1912), pp. 173-177.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
McIntosh Electrical Corporation
ID Number
MG.318933.01
catalog number
318933.01
serial number
1033
accession number
318933
The case lid is stamped "ANTITOXIN SYRINGE.” The date of April 7, 1891 is stamped on the barrel. This was designed and manufactured by Anton Molinari in Woodbridge, N.J.Ref: Anton Molinari, “Piston for Syringes,” U.S. Patent 449,883 (April 7, 1891).Currently not on view
Description
The case lid is stamped "ANTITOXIN SYRINGE.” The date of April 7, 1891 is stamped on the barrel. This was designed and manufactured by Anton Molinari in Woodbridge, N.J.
Ref: Anton Molinari, “Piston for Syringes,” U.S. Patent 449,883 (April 7, 1891).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
patent date
1891-04-07
ID Number
MG.M-07851
catalog number
M-07851
accession number
223292
An inscription on the cardboard box reads in part, “THE KEIDEL VACUUM BLEEDING TUBE / FOR THE QUICK AND ASEPTIC COLLECTION OF BLOOD FOR THE WASSERMANN AND OTHER REACTIONS.” The Wasserman test for syphilis was developed at the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, in 1906
Description
An inscription on the cardboard box reads in part, “THE KEIDEL VACUUM BLEEDING TUBE / FOR THE QUICK AND ASEPTIC COLLECTION OF BLOOD FOR THE WASSERMANN AND OTHER REACTIONS.” The Wasserman test for syphilis was developed at the Robert Koch Institute for Infectious Diseases, in 1906, and named for August Paul von Wassermann (1866-1925), a German bacteriologist. Albert Keidel (1877-1942), a physician affiliated with the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, designed the form of this tube.
Ref: Albert Keidel, “A Sample Bleeding Tube for Obtaining Specimens for the Wasserman Reaction,” Journal of the American Medical Association 58 (1912): 1579.
Testing blood serum for the presence of antibodies required specialized tools and techniques for collecting blood samples without introducing contaminants. The Keidel Vacuum Bleeding Tube, introduced around 1915, provided one solution. Each sterile package contained a needle attached via a short rubber tube to a sealed glass vacuum tube. After the needle was inserted into the vein, the seal was broken, allowing blood to be drawn quickly into the glass tube. The sample could then be resealed and sent to the laboratory for testing. The Keidel device was marketed particularly for the Wassermann test—a serological test for syphilis developed in 1906. The diagnostic test aided public health departments in their efforts to control the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1915-1920
maker
Hynson, Westcott & Dunning, Incorporated
ID Number
2002.0224.16
catalog number
2002.0224.16
accession number
2002.0224
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1929
maker
Crystal Laboratories
ID Number
1979.0798.296
accession number
1979.0798
catalog number
1979.0798.296
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1927
maker
Mulhens and Kropff
ID Number
2013.0203.1
catalog number
2013.0203.1
accession number
2013.0203
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
product expiration date (Blackleg Vaccine)
1922-02-18
maker
Pasteur Institute of America
ID Number
MG.293320.0792
catalog number
293320.0792
accession number
293320
Rectangular pink cardboard sign with text, "QUARANTINE MEASLES All persons are forbidden to enter or leave these premises without the permission of the Health Officer under Penalty of the Law.
Description (Brief)
Rectangular pink cardboard sign with text, "QUARANTINE MEASLES All persons are forbidden to enter or leave these premises without the permission of the Health Officer under Penalty of the Law. This notice is posted in compliance with the Sanitary Code of Connecticut and must not be removed with out permission of the Health Officer---Health Officer. Form D-1-M." Text on reverse reads, "Regulation 20 of the Sanitary Code of the State of Connecticut. The local health officer upon receiving a report of a case of any of the diseases designated in this regulation shall promptly institute and maintain control during the period of communicability by the method hereinafter designated: (b) when the disease is Diphtheria, Poliomyelitis, Scarlet fever, Smallpox the apartment or premises where such disease exists shall be placarded and the affected person and attendants shall be isolated and quarantined therein."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
ID Number
2005.3080.06
nonaccession number
2005.3080
catalog number
2005.3080.06
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:for the relief of simple itching of the skin due to non-poisonous Insect Bites and Chafing. Also for the relief of itching of the scalp and for the removal of the scales of dandruff. ..
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
for the relief of simple itching of the skin due to non-poisonous Insect Bites and Chafing. Also for the relief of itching of the scalp and for the removal of the scales of dandruff. .. will temporarily relive the itching caused by external piles.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1929
maker
Larned Corp.
ID Number
1985.0475.540
accession number
1985.0475
catalog number
1985.0475.540
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1922
product expiration date
1922-02-28
maker
Pasteur Institute of America
ID Number
MG.293320.0790
catalog number
293320.0790
accession number
293320
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
Richard Hudnut
ID Number
1984.0782.353
catalog number
1984.0782.353
accession number
1984.0782
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
product launch date (As the Petals)
1916
ID Number
MG.293320.0883
catalog number
293320.0883
accession number
293320
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920s
maker
Pompeian Company
ID Number
2008.0018.278
catalog number
2008.0018.278
accession number
2008.0018
Off-white cardboard sign with black text reading, "MEASLES- Children--except those of this household with the Health Officer's permit--must not enter or leave these premises. No person other than those authorized by the Board of Health shall remove this placard.
Description (Brief)
Off-white cardboard sign with black text reading, "MEASLES- Children--except those of this household with the Health Officer's permit--must not enter or leave these premises. No person other than those authorized by the Board of Health shall remove this placard. Any person or persons defacing, covering up, or destroying this placard render themselves liable to the penalties of the law. Act of the General Assembly approved June 28, 1923, provides that anyone violating the provisions of this Act, upon conviction thereof may be sentenced to pay a fine of not more than $100.00, to be paid to the use of said county, and costs of prosecution, or to be imprisoned in the county jail for a period of not less than ten days or more than thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court.' By order of the Board of Health" with lines for the signature and address of the Health Officer and the date posted.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1923
ID Number
2005.3079.12
nonaccession number
2005.3079
catalog number
2005.3079.12
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:a quality cleansing and massage cream for the face and neck.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
a quality cleansing and massage cream for the face and neck.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1914 - 1920s
maker
De Pree Company
ID Number
2008.0018.174
catalog number
2008.0018.174
accession number
2008.0018
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:Healing, soothing, cooling, non-irritating and cleansing for the eyesCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
Healing, soothing, cooling, non-irritating and cleansing for the eyes
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1920
maker
Valma's Drug Company
ID Number
MG.293320.1185
catalog number
293320.1185
accession number
293320
Replica of the gold medal awarded to the 18 dog team drivers who carried diphtheria antitoxin from Nenana to Nome, Alaska, January 27 - February 2, 1925, for use in the epidemic.
Description
Replica of the gold medal awarded to the 18 dog team drivers who carried diphtheria antitoxin from Nenana to Nome, Alaska, January 27 - February 2, 1925, for use in the epidemic. The obverse has image of sled dogs and “SERVICE - VALOR - NENANA – NOME.” The reverse has “MULFORD LABORATORIES / FOR THE CONSERVATION OF LIFE” AND “AWARDED TO / [...] / FOR HEROIC SERVICE / H. K. MULFORD CO. / PHILADELPHIA / FEBRUARY 1925.” The medal is attached to blue and yellow grosgrain ribbon.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1925
maker
H. K. Mulford Company
ID Number
MG.M-02103
accession number
88822
catalog number
M-02103
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1925
product line launched (Glebeas Adoration)
1915
maker
Glebeas Importation Company
ID Number
1985.0481.291
accession number
1985.0481
catalog number
1985.0481.291
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905-1920
maker
Pharmaceutisches Institut. Ludwig Wilhelm Gans
ID Number
MG.293320.0795
catalog number
293320.0795
accession number
293320
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905-1920
maker
Pharmaceutisches Institut. Ludwig Wilhelm Gans
ID Number
MG.293320.0799
catalog number
293320.0799
accession number
293320
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1929
maker
H. K. Mulford Company
ID Number
MG.M-02690
catalog number
M-02690
accession number
107349
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920s
maker
Colgate and Co.
ID Number
MG.293320.0935
catalog number
293320.0935
accession number
293320

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