An inscription in the case holding this frame for trial lenses reads “Paul Weiss / OPTICIAN / 1606 CURTIS ST. / DENVER.” Paul Weiss (1864-1943) was born in Switzerland, and moved to the United States in 1881. By 1891 he was working as an optician in Denver, Colorado.
Spring lancets for bloodletting have been known since the early eighteenth century and remained popular throughout the nineteenth century. This example belonged to Launcelot Jackes (1750-ca. 1827), a Maryland physician who served as a surgeon in the Continental Army during the American Revolution.
A brass escutcheon on the case of this cupping set reads “Dr. J. M. Cockrill / Presented by / J. J. Cockrill.” Joseph M. Cockrill (1848-1898) was a physician in Baltimore.
This set includes an introducer, seven graduated hard rubber intubation tubes with metal rods, and a scale stamped “ERMOLD.” Another inscription reads “PAT. JULY 12. 1892 / PAT. PENDING / ERMOLD. George Ermold (d. 1931) was a surgical instrument maker in New York City who received U.S. Patent 478,582 for a “Larynx-Tube” on July 12, 1892.
A typed note inside the case reads "Presented by Dr. Benjamin Rich / Intubation Set which / belonged to Dr. Jesse Downey."
Curved forceps of this sort were associated with F(rederick) Hurst Maier (1871-1946), a gynecologist and surgeon in Philadelphia. The form was known by 1901. This example was made by Willms in Baltimore.
Permissible gas mask for organic vapors, Type WIG G1, made by the Willson Products Division of The Electric Storage Battery Co., in Reading, Pa.
Gile Johnson Willson (1824-1888) and his son, Thomas A. Willson (ca. 1853-), both of Reading, Pa., began experimenting with optical glass in 1871, with the aim of making safety eyewear. T. A. Willson & Co. built a glass factory, hired workers from France and Belgium, and mounted an exhibit at the Centennial Exhibition held in Philadelphia in 1876. The firm became Willson Goggles, Inc. in 1913, and later Willson Products. By 1966, the firm had become a Division of The Electric Storage Battery Co. The factory in Reading closed in May 2002.
Elisha Perkins (1741-1799) was an American physician who, in 1796, obtained a patent for metal “tractors” that promised to cure such ailments as inflammation and rheumatism.
Ref: Jacques M. Quen, “Elisha Perkins, Physician, Nostrum-Vendor, or Charlatan?” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 37 (1963): 159-166.