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.

Topic: Birth Control/Contraception

Enovid-E (20) 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.
G. D. Searle and Company of Chicago, Illinois, produced this Enovid-E brand oral contraceptive in 1976. The 20-pill blister pack is in a trademarked Compack plastic case. The days of the week are written in gold around the rim of the Compack, with three pills descending to the center under each day except Friday, which has only two pills. This object was donated to the Museum as a dispenser that fell under the claims of David Wagner’s patent (seen in object 1995.0057.01).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1976
maker
G. D. Searle and Company
ID Number
1995.0057.03
catalog number
1995.0057.03
accession number
1995.0057

The Visible Man

People have long sought better ways to illustrate and understand the structure and functions of the human body. Paper dolls and wax, papier-mache, and plaster anatomical models have all been used as tools to teach human anatomy.
Description
People have long sought better ways to illustrate and understand the structure and functions of the human body. Paper dolls and wax, papier-mache, and plaster anatomical models have all been used as tools to teach human anatomy. In the wake of the launch of the Sputnik satellite, the Renwall Toy Corporatiion of Mineola on Long Island, New York, prepared a line of models for educational purposes. Participants in the project included company executives Irving Lublow amd Irving Rosenbloom and New Jersey designer Marcel Jovine. They proposed and designed this plastic anatomical model with removable parts.
Introduced in the fall of 1959, it initially sold for $4.98. The model has a clear plastic body or shell and comes with a "complete" skeleton, "all vital organs," and a round plastic display stand. The kit also includes instructions on how to assemble and disassemble the model and a pamphlet, "An Introduction To Anatomy: An Illustrated Guide to the Visible Man." This kit was never assembled.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Renwal Products Company
ID Number
1998.0185.02
catalog number
1998.0185.02
accession number
1998.0185

Sannette Douche Powder

Paper-wrapped metal cannister with screw-on metal cap and paper label. The paper wrapper is sealed on top with a round paper label reading: "Sannette / DOUCHE / POWDER / SOOTHING / FRAGRANT". Net weight 5 ounces.
Description
Paper-wrapped metal cannister with screw-on metal cap and paper label. The paper wrapper is sealed on top with a round paper label reading: "Sannette / DOUCHE / POWDER / SOOTHING / FRAGRANT". Net weight 5 ounces. Made by Sannette Inc., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Use and Directions as provided on the product packaging: "Sanette is a fragrant and effective Hygienic Powder, prepared for women's personal use. Sannette solution is not too astringent. It may be recommended as a sanitary wash for daily use. Sannette should not be confused with mercury, caustics, acids, cresols or similar poisonous solutions. Sannette solution, while powerful, is cooling, soothing and cleansing to mucous surfaces.
Directions: For vaginal douche: Use a heaping teaspoonful of Sannette to a quart of warm water. Properly dissolved, Sannette gives a clear solution."
"Sannette Antiseptic Powder" (or "Sannette Powder") first appears in advertisements in the early/mid-1920s where it is described as a female remedy, patent medicine, or antiseptic. It begins being referred to in ads as a "douche" beginning in the 1930s, and appears to disppear from advertisements in the mid-1940s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early-1930s to mid-1940s
ID Number
MG.254865.34
accession number
254865
catalog number
254865.34

Ortho-Novum Dialpak

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.
This is an Ortho-Novum Dialpak dispenser that was manufactured by the Ortho Pharmaceutical Company of Raritan, New Jersey, during the 1960s. The 20-pill Dialpak has a central “calendar disc” listing the days of the week, with each day aligning with the pill slot that containing that day’s pill. This Dialpak originally dispensed a 10-milligram pill, but is now empty. The back of the Dialpak contains instructions on how to use the device.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1963
maker
Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation
ID Number
1982.0531.036
catalog number
1982.0531.036
accession number
1982.0531

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