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.

Round, metal jar with lid. Embossed on lid: "Melorose / Beauty Cream / 50[cents] / WILLARD WHITE CO., CHICAGO." Jar is empty.Currently not on view
Description
Round, metal jar with lid. Embossed on lid: "Melorose / Beauty Cream / 50[cents] / WILLARD WHITE CO., CHICAGO." Jar is empty.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.293320.0861
catalog number
293320.0861
accession number
293320
An intubation kit sold by Haussmann, McComb & Dunn, 122 Randolph St., Chicago. The kit is contained in a leather-covered, hinged case with metal clasp and red fabric lining.
Description (Brief)
An intubation kit sold by Haussmann, McComb & Dunn, 122 Randolph St., Chicago. The kit is contained in a leather-covered, hinged case with metal clasp and red fabric lining. The kit contains: 5 gold plated O'Dwyer's intubation tubes with metal obturators; 1 O'Dwyer's Scale (original style); 1 O'Dwyer's Introducer (with wood handle); 1 O'Dwyer's intubation tube extracto (with wood handle); 1 Waxham's mouth gag.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1886 - 1891
maker
Haussmann, McComb & Dunn
ID Number
MG.M-04708
catalog number
M-04708
accession number
148567
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s
maker
Maybelline Cosmetics
ID Number
2008.0018.268
accession number
2008.0018
catalog number
2008.0018.268
Two cylinders of dental floss in a cardboard box. The inscription on one side of the box reads “Butler / RIGHT KIND / UnWaxed Dental Floss / For Personal Oral Hygiene / John O. Butler Co. / Chicago, Ill. 60611 / Printed in U.S.A.
Description
Two cylinders of dental floss in a cardboard box. The inscription on one side of the box reads “Butler / RIGHT KIND / UnWaxed Dental Floss / For Personal Oral Hygiene / John O. Butler Co. / Chicago, Ill. 60611 / Printed in U.S.A. Made in U.S.A.” That on another side adds “Conforming to the Optimum Characteristics / of Dental Floss for Personal Oral Hygiene / as specified by Dr. C. C. Bass / For Personal Oral Hygiene.”
John O. Butler (1873-1973) was a Chicago dentist who, in 1923, established the John O. Butler Company, a firm that manufactured sundry oral-care products. Charles C. Bass (1875-1975) was a physician on the faculty of the Tulane University Medical School. Zip codes were introduced on July 1, 1963.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1963
maker
John O. Butler Company
ID Number
1993.0107.199
catalog number
1993.0107.199
accession number
1993.0107
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1944
copyright date (on packaging)
1944
maker
Overton Hygienic Mfg. Company
ID Number
1988.0037.21
catalog number
1988.0037.21
accession number
1988.0037
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
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
maker
Consolidated Royal Chemical Corporation
ID Number
1980.0698.123
accession number
1980.0698
catalog number
1980.0698.123
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Johnson and Johnson
ID Number
1985.0475.266
catalog number
1985.0475.266
accession number
1985.0475
This object is one of over 700 medically related objects used on the set of the television show M*A*S*H.
Description
This object is one of over 700 medically related objects used on the set of the television show M*A*S*H. Most of these items are authentic medical instruments, supplies, and equipment from the 1950s.
M*A*S*H was an award-winning television show based on the bestselling novel and Oscar winning motion picture film of the same title. It portrayed the lives of doctors and nurses assigned to a fictitious medical unit, the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, based in Uijeongbu, Korea during the 1950-1953 war. The program was initially broadcast from September 17, 1972 to February 28, 1983.
After the show ended in 1983, Twentieth Century Fox donated material from the two major sets, the “Swamp” and the “Operating Theater,” to the museum, along with scripts, photographs, and interviews with individuals who served in MASH units in Korea and Vietnam. See accessions 1983.0095, 1985.0335, 1988.0748, 1988.3163, and archival collection NMAH.AC.0117, for further MASH material.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Helene Curtis
ID Number
1985.0252.425
accession number
1985.0252
catalog number
1985.0252.425
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Princess Pat
ID Number
1985.0481.361
catalog number
1985.0481.361
accession number
1985.0481
Orange cardboard box containing one yard of corrosive sublimate gauze for field use in World War I.
Description
Orange cardboard box containing one yard of corrosive sublimate gauze for field use in World War I. Typed on the box in black ink is: "B&B Corrosive / Sublimate Gauze / Compressed / 1 Yard / Prepared by / Bauer & Black / Chicago, U.S.A / Contract May, 1917." Corrosive sublimate, also known as mercuric chloride (HgCl2), was used as an antiseptic during the war.
date made
ca. 1917
maker
Bauer & Black
ID Number
AF.303690D
catalog number
303690D
accession number
62728
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1927-1930
product line launched (Krasny)
1927
product line discontinued (Krasny)
ca 1930
ID Number
1985.0481.319
accession number
1985.0481
catalog number
1985.0481.319
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Institut Pasteur
Pasteur Vaccine Company Ld.
ID Number
MG.293320.0809
catalog number
293320.0809
accession number
293320
One of 43 specimens of organo-therapeutic products donated to the museum in 1928 by Armour and Company.
Description
One of 43 specimens of organo-therapeutic products donated to the museum in 1928 by Armour and Company. This material replaced specimens donated in 1918 (accession 162374) for an exhibit on Organotherapy.
Established in the 1860s, Armour and Company, located in Chicago Illinois, was a leader in the American meatpacking industry. By the 1890s, the company expanded into the pharmaceutical business, developing a wide range of therapeutic products extracted from animal glands and membranes supplied by their slaughterhouses (abattoirs).
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Armour and Company
ID Number
MG.M-02510
catalog number
M-02510
accession number
103075
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.293320.0788
catalog number
293320.0788
accession number
293320
With a $250 dollar loan, George and Joan Johnson founded Johnson Products Co. Inc. in 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. The company produced hair-care products for African American men and women.
Description
With a $250 dollar loan, George and Joan Johnson founded Johnson Products Co. Inc. in 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. The company produced hair-care products for African American men and women. Produced in the late 1960s, Afro-Sheen was one of Johnson's best-known products during a time when the natural "afro" became a popular hairstyle for African Americans. In 1971 Johnson became the first black company to sponsor a nationally syndicated television program "Soul Train" and the first African American owned company to trade on the American Stock Exchange.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 1960s
maker
Johnson Products Company
ID Number
1985.0475.243
catalog number
1985.0475.243
accession number
1985.0475
William Healy and Grace Fernald of Chicago used puzzles to study to abilities of delinquent children. This one shows one day in the life of a schoolboy. It was given to soldiers who failed the Army group examinations.This test is in a black, cloth-covered paper box.
Description
William Healy and Grace Fernald of Chicago used puzzles to study to abilities of delinquent children. This one shows one day in the life of a schoolboy. It was given to soldiers who failed the Army group examinations.
This test is in a black, cloth-covered paper box. It consists of two nearly square boards which are displayed next to one another. Each board has a cloth backing. A picture printed on paper is attached to the front. The pictures show a total of eleven scenes from the life of a schoolboy. Each scene has a square hole cut in it. The teat also has sixty square wooden pieces that fit into the holes in the boards. Each piece has a picture on the front and is numbered on the back. The pieces fit, ten to a row, into a wooden rack with six long indentations. Places on the rack are numbered from 1 to 60. A piece of black cloth nailed to the bottom front of the rack allow it to be removed from the box. The test also contains a blue pamphlet: William Healy, Manual for Pictorial Completion test II Cat. No. 46235, Chicago: C.H. Stoelting.
This test is a version (differing, at least, in its box) of a test described in; C.H. Stoelting, Apparatus, Tests and Supplies, Chicago, 1936, p. 157. See also C.H. Stoelting, List 350, Apparatus and Supplies for Practical Mental Classification Used by Dr. William Healy, p. 7 in Stoelting’s publication Psychology and Physiology Apparatus and Supplies, Chicago, 1921.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1917
maker
C. H. Stoelting Company
ID Number
1990.0570.03
accession number
1990.0570
catalog number
1990.0570.03
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Institut Pasteur
Pasteur Vaccine Company Ld.
ID Number
MG.293320.0805
catalog number
293320.0805
accession number
293320
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.293320.0791
catalog number
293320.0791
accession number
293320
Gray cardboard box containing a set of six iodine swabs for field use in World War I. Typed on the top of the box in black ink is: "B&B Iodine Swab / Enough for one Application in Each / Each Containing: 1 1/2 c.c.
Description
Gray cardboard box containing a set of six iodine swabs for field use in World War I. Typed on the top of the box in black ink is: "B&B Iodine Swab / Enough for one Application in Each / Each Containing: 1 1/2 c.c. 3 1/2% Tincture Iodine / 70% Alcohol / 6 Iodine Swabs / Prepared by Bauer & Black Chicago, U.S.A." Inside the box are six glass tubes of iodine wrapped in paper with instructions for use in emergency wound care.
maker
Bauer & Black
ID Number
AF.303690C
catalog number
303690C
accession number
62728
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Cudahy Soap Works, U.S.A.
ID Number
1986.0749.02
catalog number
1986.0749.02
accession number
1986.0749
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Institut Pasteur
Pasteur Vaccine Company Ld.
ID Number
MG.293320.0806
catalog number
293320.0806
accession number
293320
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
maker
Armour and Company
ID Number
1984.0782.266
accession number
1984.0782
catalog number
1984.0782.266

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