Wooden box containing seventeen metal and five ivory plates for repairing broken bones. One inscription reads “SHERMAN VANADIUM.” Another reads “CHAS. NEUHAUS & CO.” Sherman Vanadium Steel (aka stainless steel) was the first metal developed specifically for human use—for manufacturing bone fracture plates and screws. It was promoted by William O’Neill Sherman (d. 1954), a surgeon in Pittsburgh. Chas. Neuhaus & Co., of Baltimore, made various surgical and medical instruments.
Ref: William O’Neill Sherman, M.D., “Vanadium Bone Plates and Screws,” Surgery, Gynecology and Obstetrics 14 (1912): 629-534.
“Doctor Nails Broken Bone,” Washington Post (Aug. 2, 1912), p. 1.