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.

Pamphlet for Indexo, a firm that apparently began in 1901 and that was still going in 1937.Currently not on view
Description
Pamphlet for Indexo, a firm that apparently began in 1901 and that was still going in 1937.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.291116.333
accession number
291116
catalog number
291116.333
The inscriptions on the handle of this toothbrush read “BRISCO” and “KLEANWELL” and “57.” The form was available by 1910, was apparently made in France.Currently not on view
Description
The inscriptions on the handle of this toothbrush read “BRISCO” and “KLEANWELL” and “57.” The form was available by 1910, was apparently made in France.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.M-10571
catalog number
M-10571
accession number
253101
Toothbrush shared by astronauts Col. Frank Borman and Capt. Jim Lovell in 1965 on their rendezvous flight with Gemini 6-A.Currently not on view
Description
Toothbrush shared by astronauts Col. Frank Borman and Capt. Jim Lovell in 1965 on their rendezvous flight with Gemini 6-A.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca.1965
ID Number
MG.M-14770
catalog number
M-14770
accession number
300968
Wood-handled toothbrush with red rubber bristles. Toothbrush is part of a boxed set that came with a tube of Pearl-Mint toothpaste (1984.0782.277) and a small vial of Pearl-Mint dental tape (1984.0782.277.2).
Description
Wood-handled toothbrush with red rubber bristles. Toothbrush is part of a boxed set that came with a tube of Pearl-Mint toothpaste (1984.0782.277) and a small vial of Pearl-Mint dental tape (1984.0782.277.2). The box for the set states: "A Packet Containing All Three Essentials for Clean, Healthy Teeth and Gums." Set manufactured by Associated Dental Products, Inc., New York City. Associated Dental Products was in business by 1925 and selling Pearl-Mint by 1927.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1984.0782.227.1
catalog number
1984.0782.227.1
accession number
1984.0782
Glass vial with metal screw lid, and paper label that reads “3 Yds.
Description
Glass vial with metal screw lid, and paper label that reads “3 Yds. Waxed / PEARL-MINT / DENTAL TAPE / Flatten before using / ASSOCIATED DENTAL / PRODUCTS, Inc./ NEW YORK, N.Y.” Associated Dental Products was in business by 1925 and selling Pearl-Mint by 1927.
Dental tape is part of a boxed set that came with a tube of Pearl-Mint toothpaste (1984.0782.227) and a toothbrush /gum massager (1984.0782.227.1). The box for the set states: "A Packet Containing All Three Essentials for Clean, Healthy Teeth and Gums."
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Associated Dental Products
ID Number
1984.0782.227.2
catalog number
1984.0782.227.2
accession number
1984.0782
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s
maker
Lever Brothers Company
ID Number
1981.0219.037
accession number
1981.0219
catalog number
1981.0219.037
Cardboard box with inscriptions that read “Sensodyne / TOOTHPASTE FOR SENSITIVE TEETH / Recommended by Dentists for Sensitive Teeth / Sensitive teeth relief / in a mint flavor” and “FROM / BLOCK DRUG COMPANY, INC.
Description
Cardboard box with inscriptions that read “Sensodyne / TOOTHPASTE FOR SENSITIVE TEETH / Recommended by Dentists for Sensitive Teeth / Sensitive teeth relief / in a mint flavor” and “FROM / BLOCK DRUG COMPANY, INC. / JERSEY CITY, NJ 07302.” The Block Drug Company was established in Brooklyn in 1907 and relocated to Jersey City in 1938. It applied for a trademark on the term Sensodyne in 1960.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Block Drug Company
ID Number
1993.0107.026
catalog number
1993.0107.026
accession number
1993.0107
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
Inscriptions on the handle of this toothbrush read “The Pygmalion” and “WARRANTED SECURE” and “FRANCE.”Currently not on view
Description
Inscriptions on the handle of this toothbrush read “The Pygmalion” and “WARRANTED SECURE” and “FRANCE.”
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.M-10562
catalog number
M-10562
accession number
253101
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:On toilet and shaving soaps, perfumes, sachets, toilet waters, talc and dental powders.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
On toilet and shaving soaps, perfumes, sachets, toilet waters, talc and dental powders.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908-1918
product release
1873
maker
Colgate & Company
ID Number
MG.293320.0982
catalog number
293320.0982
accession number
293320
Personal tooth cleaner with a “RE-VIRA / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.” inscription on the handle. Neil McCloud Whittaker (1878-1963), a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, devised a tooth cleaner that used disposable cotton pads rather than reusable bristles.
Description
Personal tooth cleaner with a “RE-VIRA / REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.” inscription on the handle. Neil McCloud Whittaker (1878-1963), a graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, devised a tooth cleaner that used disposable cotton pads rather than reusable bristles. He introduced the term “Revira” in 1924. He received a trademark in 1925, and a patent in 1926. He established the Revira Company in Ridgefield Park, N.J., and sponsored ads asking: “Do you sterilize your toothbrush?”
Ref: Neil McCloud Whittaker, “Toothbrush,” U.S. Patent 1,604,731 (Oct. 26, 1926).
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.260892.206
accession number
260892
catalog number
260892.206
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1985.0407.02
accession number
1985.0407
catalog number
1985.0407.02
A label on the front of this glass jar reads “DENTRAY / TOOTH POWDER.” That on the back reads in part “DENTRAY / TOOTH POWDER / MADE BY A DENTIST / Purest ingredients, harmless if swallowed. No grit, no pumice-cannot scratch the precious tooth enamel, nor hurt tender gums / . .
Description
A label on the front of this glass jar reads “DENTRAY / TOOTH POWDER.” That on the back reads in part “DENTRAY / TOOTH POWDER / MADE BY A DENTIST / Purest ingredients, harmless if swallowed. No grit, no pumice-cannot scratch the precious tooth enamel, nor hurt tender gums / . . . / DENTRAY COMPANY, N.Y. / MADE IN U.S.A.”
David Adolph Eolis (1886-1945) was an immigrant from Russia who settled in New York and identified as a chemist. In 1935, he obtained a patent for a powder dispenser (1,986,718), and a copyright on the term Dentray. In 1939 he obtained a patent for “composition and process of making powder from nacreous substances” (2,172,369).
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.291116.178.01
accession number
291116
catalog number
291116.178.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.M-10575
catalog number
M-10575
accession number
253101
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1958 - 1960
maker
Colgate-Palmolive Company
ID Number
1988.0717.21
catalog number
1988.0717.21
accession number
1988.0717
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1993.0107.030
catalog number
1993.0107.030
accession number
1993.0107
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Merkel's
ID Number
1986.0873.19
accession number
1986.0873
catalog number
1986.0873.19
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930s
copyright date
1930
maker
Sanifoam Inc.
ID Number
1984.0557.14
accession number
1984.0557
catalog number
1984.0557.14
The label on this metal container reads “ALBODON FOR THE TEETH” and “WILLIAM WARNER & CO., INC. NEW YORK, ST. LOUIS” with instructions for use. There was an Albodon Co., in New York, that was making a dental cream by 1916, and that dissolved in 1928. William R. Warner & Co.
Description
The label on this metal container reads “ALBODON FOR THE TEETH” and “WILLIAM WARNER & CO., INC. NEW YORK, ST. LOUIS” with instructions for use. There was an Albodon Co., in New York, that was making a dental cream by 1916, and that dissolved in 1928. William R. Warner & Co. was making Albodon by 1936.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Warner, William Richard
ID Number
1979.1144.061
accession number
1979.1144
catalog number
1979.1144.061
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
NDK Company
ID Number
1984.0837.01
accession number
1984.0837
catalog number
1984.0837.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
MG.M-10572
catalog number
M-10572
accession number
253101
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2012.0165.444
catalog number
2012.0165.444
accession number
2012.0165
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2012.0165.445
catalog number
2012.0165.445
accession number
2012.0165
Dental floss in cardboard box with inscriptions that read “ONE / 200 YDS. / Johnson’s / DENTAL / FLOSS / REFILL / FOR PLASTIC AND / STEEL DISPENSERS / Johnson & Johnson” and “HELPING THE HANDS / THAT HEAL / TRADEMARK.”Currently not on view
Description
Dental floss in cardboard box with inscriptions that read “ONE / 200 YDS. / Johnson’s / DENTAL / FLOSS / REFILL / FOR PLASTIC AND / STEEL DISPENSERS / Johnson & Johnson” and “HELPING THE HANDS / THAT HEAL / TRADEMARK.”
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Johnson and Johnson
ID Number
1993.0107.198
catalog number
1993.0107.198
accession number
1993.0107

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