An inscription on this item reads “Ivory / Pat. Sept. 16, 1890.” James W. Ivory (1880-1930) was born in Canada, moved to Philadelphia, and designed, made and sold dental devices.
Ref: James W. Ivory and Alfred Wayne, “Teeth-Separator,” U.S. Patent 436,603 (Sept. 16, 1890).
This, an improved version of the dental plugger introduced by Snow & Lewis in 1866, was touted as “The Most Popular and Efficient Dental Instrument Ever Offered to the Profession.” An inscription reads “G. B. Snow / Buffalo, N. Y. / Pat. June 8, 1880 / No. 400.”
Ref: George B. Snow, “Dental Plugger,” U.S. Patent Reissue 9248 (June 8, 1880), assigned to the Buffalo Dental Manufacturing Co.
Ad for The Snow & Lewis Automatic Plugger in The Dental Advertiser 12 (1881): 20.
Early WIG L BUG dental amalgamator with a “CRESCENT DENTAL MFG. CO. / CHICAGO, ILL., U.S.A.” inscription. The Crescent Dental Mfg. Co. introduced the term “WIG L BUG” in 1938, used it for an amalgamator in 1949, and filed for a trademark in 1961.