by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu Well, to borrow a sound bite from “Car Talk“, this chump is stumped[2]. The problem with identifying unidentified objects is that it’s very difficult to research them if you don’t know what they are. It’s a little bit like asking how a word is spelled and being told to… Continue Reading Thingamajig – The mystery returns […]
Thingamajig
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu Thingamajigs often make for short posts because I don’t want to give too much away. This one will be an especially short post because, in all honesty, I have no idea what it is. (I guess that solves the “give too much away” problem, doesn’t it? I can’t give… Continue Reading Thingamajig […]
Outfitting a hospital, 1925
Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu Why, oh, why, didn’t I think to save last week’s post on Piltdown Man for April Fool’s Day? Oh, well. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Moving on from poor blog timing . . . this week takes us back into… Continue Reading Outfitting a hospital, 1925 […]
Stereoscopes, Hominids, and Hoaxes
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu I hope you’re sitting down, because this post is gonna be a wild ride. Archivist Philip Montgomery brought me a stereoscope image a few days ago and asked me to find out whether the fact that the card on which the photographs were mounted was curved was normal, or… Continue Reading Stereoscopes, Hominids, and Hoaxes […]
Pigeon Hole Parking, 1953
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu The following letter and brochure come from the Hermann Hospital estate collection, which is immense and has not yet been processed. I had the project of transferring it into clean archival folders and boxes a few years ago, and I know there are some interesting things hiding among the… Continue Reading Pigeon Hole Parking, 1953 […]
Thingamajig
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant We’re back with the answer to last week’s Thingamajig! Here it is, to refresh your memory: We got several suggestions about what this might be, including a snail race track (complete with “escargot”–car go–pun), a snake warmer, and, more seriously, a giant electrophoresis apparatus. Actually, the snake warmer guess wasn’t… Continue Reading Thingamajig […]
Thingamjig
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu We’ve gotten some new donations, which have included new Thingamajig fodder. The following came from the estate of Thomas Matney, M.D. (1928-2010). It’s almost three feet long and, although it’s made of aluminum, it’s pretty much cast solid and probably weighs fifty or sixty pounds. Phil commented that it… Continue Reading Thingamjig […]
Pneumothorax apparatus
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu We got a visitor on Monday who brought us a new gadget. Meet the pneumothorax apparatus: (double-click on image for a larger version) This machine, which is a little over a foot tall and has a cylinder about six inches in diameter, was used to induce artificial pneumothoraces… Continue Reading Pneumothorax apparatus […]
Spoonful of sugar, stat!
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant We received an inquiry a few weeks ago that involved a question about nineteenth century medications, and it turned into a rather interesting fact-search. While I have it on my mind, I thought we could take a look at one of our antique medicine cases. We have several doctors’ bags… Continue Reading Spoonful of sugar, stat! […]
Steam sterilizer
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant We’re back! I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. This week’s post features our vintage Castle steam sterilizer: This one is a small model–the box is about a foot long and seven inches tall–that seems to have been popular for specialty instruments (which would have been used in smaller… Continue Reading Steam sterilizer […]