Health & Medicine

Iron Lung

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.

Date: 1900s

Hart's Swedish Asthma and Hay Fever Cure

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For asthma and hay feverCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For asthma and hay fever
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1904
maker
Hart's Swedish Asthma Cure Company
ID Number
MG.M-10415.02
catalog number
M-10415
accession number
246707

Violet Talc Powder - Colgate & Co.

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:For infants, for the toilet. It is antiseptic, slightly astringent, a wonderful healer of chafing, soreness, abrasions, irritations, sunburns etc.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are:
For infants, for the toilet. It is antiseptic, slightly astringent, a wonderful healer of chafing, soreness, abrasions, irritations, sunburns etc.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
Colgate and Co.
ID Number
MG.293320.0851
catalog number
293320.0851
accession number
293320

Dr Isaac Thompson's Eye Water

[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]Currently not on view
Description
[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1920
ca 1900
maker
John L. Thompson Sons & Co.
ID Number
MG.M-10426.26
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Rose Tooth Powder

Glass jar with paper label that reads “ROSE / TOOTH POWDER / FOR CLEANSING AND BEAUTIFYING THE TEETH.” A label on the back reads “Guaranteed under the Pure / Food and Drugs Act, June 30 / 1906. SERIAL No. 5084.”Currently not on view
Description
Glass jar with paper label that reads “ROSE / TOOTH POWDER / FOR CLEANSING AND BEAUTIFYING THE TEETH.” A label on the back reads “Guaranteed under the Pure / Food and Drugs Act, June 30 / 1906. SERIAL No. 5084.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1908
ID Number
1979.0798.247
accession number
1979.0798
catalog number
1979.0798.247

Lilly's Granular Effervescent Vichy

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:An antacid in heartburn, sour stomach, uric acid diathesis; aids digestion; used for obesity in connection with Kissingen saltsCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
An antacid in heartburn, sour stomach, uric acid diathesis; aids digestion; used for obesity in connection with Kissingen salts
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1906-1918
1906-1908
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
MG.M-12151.02
accession number
271464
catalog number
M-12151.02

Dr. Kilmer's Prompt Parilla Liver Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For headache, drowsiness, bad taste in the mouth, torpid liver, constipation, biliousness, nausea, flatulence, belching of wind, sour stomach, distress after eating, poor appetite, the complexionCurrently not o
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For headache, drowsiness, bad taste in the mouth, torpid liver, constipation, biliousness, nausea, flatulence, belching of wind, sour stomach, distress after eating, poor appetite, the complexion
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Dr. Kilmer and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10413.02
catalog number
M-10413.02
accession number
246707

Bicola Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A brain, nerve and blood tonic; cures all nervous diseases; female weaknesses; suppression of periodsCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A brain, nerve and blood tonic; cures all nervous diseases; female weaknesses; suppression of periods
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Turners
ID Number
MG.M-10413.37
catalog number
M-10413.37
accession number
246707

Beck's Great Indian Liniment

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For rheumatism, neuralgia, sprains, bruises, pains in the side and chest, swelled joints, headache, sore and weak eyes, catarrh, poisonous bites, headache, colic, dyspepsia, cholera morbus, cramps, colds, diarr
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For rheumatism, neuralgia, sprains, bruises, pains in the side and chest, swelled joints, headache, sore and weak eyes, catarrh, poisonous bites, headache, colic, dyspepsia, cholera morbus, cramps, colds, diarrhea, dysentery, fever and ague, sore throat, kidney affections
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Beck's Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.02
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Salvation Oil

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For rheumatism, neuralgia, gout, sciatica, backache, quinsy, sore throat, stiffness of the neck and joints, sprains, cuts and wounds, lumbago, scalds and burns, headache, toothache, earache, bruises, eruptions,
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For rheumatism, neuralgia, gout, sciatica, backache, quinsy, sore throat, stiffness of the neck and joints, sprains, cuts and wounds, lumbago, scalds and burns, headache, toothache, earache, bruises, eruptions, sores and swellings, inflammations, chilblains, frostbites, frosted feet, chapped hands and face, bites and stings of poisonous insects, weak ankles and joints, sore feet, pain in the back and limbs, ulcerated sores, inflammation of the breast, dislocations, or other bodily pains and aches. As a horse and cattle lotion it has no rival.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1906-1908
maker
A. C. Meyer and Company
ID Number
MG.M-10409.10
catalog number
M-10409
accession number
246707

Dollard's Herbanium Extract

Dollard’s Herbanium Extract was produced by Dollard and Company of Philadelphia, Pa. The product label claims that the company had been in business since 1838. Early advertisements for the Herbanium Extract date back to at least the mid 1840s. R.
Description
Dollard’s Herbanium Extract was produced by Dollard and Company of Philadelphia, Pa. The product label claims that the company had been in business since 1838. Early advertisements for the Herbanium Extract date back to at least the mid 1840s. R. Dollard appears to have been a Philadelphia wigmaker.
This bottle probably dates to the 1920s. Dollard and Company are referred to on the box as "Specialists in Hair and Complexion," reflecting a change from earlier packaging which bore the tagline, "Hairdressers and Wigmakers."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1906
maker
Dollard and Company
ID Number
MG.254865.25
accession number
254865
catalog number
254865.25

Rosa canina (Dog's Rose), No. 34

Robert Brendel began in business in Breslau in 1866, making lovely and accurate models of enlarged flowers, and winning medals at major exhibitions: Moscow (1872), Cologne (1890), and Chicago (1893).
Description
Robert Brendel began in business in Breslau in 1866, making lovely and accurate models of enlarged flowers, and winning medals at major exhibitions: Moscow (1872), Cologne (1890), and Chicago (1893). Following Brendel’s death in 1898, his son Reinhold moved the firm to a suburb of Berlin and won several more exhibition medals.
Ref: Graziana Fiorini, Luana Maekawa, and Peter Stiberc, “Save the Plants: Conservation of Brendel Anatomical Botany Models,” The Book and Paper Group Annual 27 (2008): 35-45
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
ID Number
MG.290006.55
catalog number
290006.55
accession number
290006
model number
34

Capsicum

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:Capsicum is of use in enabling feeble stomachs to digest food, as is shown by its efficacy in atonic dyspepsia.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
Capsicum is of use in enabling feeble stomachs to digest food, as is shown by its efficacy in atonic dyspepsia. Freely taken it is said to cure hemorrhoids, as black pepper, and still other stimulants, are known to do. It perhaps sometimes cures intermittent fever, and in obstinate cases is a good stimulant to conjoin with quinia. In common with other agents of the same nature, it tends to prevent or to relieve sea-sickness. In delirium tremens it is beneficial by enabling the patient to retain and digest food; indeed, we have seldom in this disease found it necessary to employ other internal remedies than a strong soup well seasoned with red pepper. As a local stimulant it is particularly efficient in tonsillitis. The simple form may sometimes be arrested in its first stage by a capsicum gargle; and in the sore throat of scarlet fever and in diphtheria, no application is so efficient as a strong gargle or wash made with this substance. A plaster made of Burgundy pitch, with which powdered capsicum, or its oleoresin, has been incorporated, is a very efficient stimulant in cases of chronic lumbago and other forms of muscular rheumatism, neuralgia, etc. [The National Dispensatory, 4th Edition, 1880]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850-1900
ID Number
MG.163863.029
accession number
163863
catalog number
163863.029

Payne's Quick Relief

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For rheumatism, neuralgia, pleurisy, headache, toothache, sprains, cramps, cholera morbus, colic pains, diarrhea, dysenteryCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For rheumatism, neuralgia, pleurisy, headache, toothache, sprains, cramps, cholera morbus, colic pains, diarrhea, dysentery
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1906-1908
maker
Payne Remedy Company
ID Number
MG.M-10426.39
catalog number
M-10426
accession number
246707

Warner's Safe Asthma Cure

AsthmaCurrently not on view
Description
Asthma
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898-1902
maker
Warner's Safe Cure Company
ID Number
MG.M-12151.23
catalog number
M-12151.23
accession number
271464

Good of All Eclectic Balsams

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For colds, coughs, bronchitis, asthma, throat or lung disorders, sore throatsCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For colds, coughs, bronchitis, asthma, throat or lung disorders, sore throats
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
maker
Eclectic Medical Company
ID Number
1978.0882.01
accession number
1978.0882
catalog number
1978.0882.01

Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription

[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]Currently not on view
Description
[No indications or uses for this product are provided on its packaging.]
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1930
trademark registration date
1906-12-11
maker
World's Dispensary Medical Association
ID Number
MG.293320.1328
catalog number
293320.1328
accession number
293320

Thompson's San Cura

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:A most excellent combination of vegetable medicines for scrofula, erysipelas, syphilis, salt rheum, pimples, boils, and all impurities of the blood.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
A most excellent combination of vegetable medicines for scrofula, erysipelas, syphilis, salt rheum, pimples, boils, and all impurities of the blood. As a spring medicine for removing biliousness, preventing and relieving constipation, in conjunction with Thompson's Dandelion and Mandrake Pills, it will be found invaluable, increasing the appetite and strengthening the system. In all skin diseases or eruptions it should be used with San Cura Ointment.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
after 1906
maker
Thompson Medical Company
ID Number
1989.0711.50
accession number
1989.0711
catalog number
1989.0711.50

Postinor Oral Contraceptive

The popularity of “the Pill” created a new market for pharmaceutical companies. For the first time, healthy women would be taking medication for an extended period of time.
Description (Brief)
The popularity of “the Pill” created a new market for pharmaceutical companies. For the first time, healthy women would be taking medication for an extended period of time. Pill manufacturers developed unique packaging in order to distinguish their product from those of their competitors and build brand loyalty. Packaging design often incorporated a “memory aid” to assist women in tracking their daily pill regimen, as well as styled cases to allow pills to be discreetly carried in bags and purses. The National Museum of American History’s Division of Medicine and Science’s collection of oral contraceptives illustrates some of the changes that the packaging and marketing of the Pill underwent from its inception in 1960 to the present.
Gedeon Richter Ltd. of Budapest, Hungary, produced this Postinor brand oral contraceptive beginning in 1979. Most oral contraceptives come in 21 or 28 pill varieties that are made to be taken once a day for a month. Postinor was a 10-pill regimen containing .75mg of levonorgestrel intended to be used as post-coital contraception, to be taken only after intercourse instead of daily. It appealed to many women because it is meant to be taken only as needed. The Postinor is in a silver blister pack containing 10 pills in two rows of five. Presently, Postinor is marketed as an emergency contraceptive pill (Plan B), containing two pills of .75 mg of levonorgestrel meant to be taken 12 hours apart.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1990-04
maker
Chemical Works of Gedeon Richter Ltd.
ID Number
1997.0360.09
catalog number
1997.0360.09
accession number
1997.0360

Ophthalmometer

This instrument was known as an ophthalmometer, a corneal microscope, or a keratometer. The “E. B. Meyrowitz / 316 New York” inscription refers to an optical apparatus firm that was established in New York in 1875.
Description
This instrument was known as an ophthalmometer, a corneal microscope, or a keratometer. The “E. B. Meyrowitz / 316 New York” inscription refers to an optical apparatus firm that was established in New York in 1875.
date made
around 1900
maker
E.B. Meyrowitz
ID Number
1984.0064.01
catalog number
1984.0064.01
accession number
1984.0064

Mellin's Food

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1900
maker
Mellin's Food Company
ID Number
2017.3025.079
nonaccession number
2017.3025
catalog number
2017.3025.079

Dollard's Herbaniium Extract

Dollard’s Herbanium Extract was produced by Dollard and Company of Philadelphia, Pa. The product label claims that the company had been in business since 1838. Early advertisements for the Herbanium Extract date back to at least the mid-1840s. R.
Description
Dollard’s Herbanium Extract was produced by Dollard and Company of Philadelphia, Pa. The product label claims that the company had been in business since 1838. Early advertisements for the Herbanium Extract date back to at least the mid-1840s. R. Dollard appears to have been a Philadelphia wigmaker.
This bottle probably dates around 1920. The alcohol content is listed to comply with the 1906 Food and Drugs Act. Claims that the product is a valuable remedy for headache, which were present on early packaging, have been omitted from the label.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1906
maker
Dollard and Company
ID Number
MG.254865.26
accession number
254865
catalog number
254865.26

Norquest-Fe Oral Contraceptive

The popularity of “the Pill” created a new market for pharmaceutical companies. For the first time, healthy women would be taking medication for an extended period of time.
Description (Brief)
The popularity of “the Pill” created a new market for pharmaceutical companies. For the first time, healthy women would be taking medication for an extended period of time. Pill manufacturers developed unique packaging in order to distinguish their product from those of their competitors and build brand loyalty. Packaging design often incorporated a “memory aid” to assist women in tracking their daily pill regimen, as well as styled cases to allow pills to be discreetly carried in bags and purses. The National Museum of American History’s Division of Medicine and Science’s collection of oral contraceptives illustrates some of the changes that the packaging and marketing of the Pill underwent from its inception in 1960 to the present.
Syntex Laboratories of Palo Alto, California, produced this Norquest-Fe brand oral contraceptive between 1989 and 2005. The cardboard box packaging has a photo-silhouette of a man and woman. The box contains one 28-pill blister pack with 21 white hormonal pills and 7 brown iron supplement pills. The package also contains a white insert with patient directions stating that Norquest was “ . . . specially imported in Bangladesh for distribution at a subsidized rate by Social Marketing Company (SMC).”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1989-05
maker
Syntex Laboratories
ID Number
1997.0360.03
catalog number
1997.0360.03
accession number
1997.0360

Quinine Pills, 2 Grains

The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:For use as an antiperiodic, tonic, and antipyretic [to lower a fever] [Remington's Practice of Pharmacy, Seventh Edition, 1926]Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer, or as found in contemporary medical literature, are:
For use as an antiperiodic, tonic, and antipyretic [to lower a fever] [Remington's Practice of Pharmacy, Seventh Edition, 1926]
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1901
maker
American Can Company
ID Number
2000.0137.063
accession number
2000.0137
catalog number
2000.0137.063

Dr. De Sanctis's Rheumatic and Gout Pills

The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For rheumatism and goutCurrently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For rheumatism and gout
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1900
maker
Edward Cleaver
E. Fougera and Company
ID Number
MG.M-12151.11
catalog number
M-12151.11
accession number
271464

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