By Alethea Drexler Archives Assistant For this week’s Thingamajig, I dug out some of the more picturesque vintage medication packages. Sometime, seemingly in the 1940’s or 1950’s, medication boxes and bottles started to look very much like modern boxes and bottles, but some of the older examples are pretty artistic. (These photographs have been spliced… Continue Reading Thingamajig: medication packaging […]
Thingamajig: we're baaaaaaaack!
By Alethea Drexler Archives Assistant The Thingamajig returns! I didn’t intend to get this far behind, but it’s past time to get back on track and dig some more curiosities out of the archives. Today’s Thingamajig is an artificial heart valve, from the medical instruments collection. This one was given to us by Dr. Don… Continue Reading Thingamajig: we're baaaaaaaack! […]
Thingamajig: Glass syringe
Today’s Thingamajig comes from the A.M. Autrey, Sr., Collection of Medical Instruments. Here we have a glass and metal syringe and hypodermic needles, nestled comfortably in a padded, satin-lined, case. The metal may be silver. The syringe as we know it was invented, based on the earlier development of the fine, hollow, needle, in 1853… Continue Reading Thingamajig: Glass syringe […]
Thingamajig: Mystery doctor
The official Thingamajig was rained in today, so we’re presenting you with a different kind of puzzle. Do you recognize this doctor? This image, and two accompanying images featuring the doctor on the right, are part of the HRC photograph collection, but we don’t know who the man is, and we don’t recognize the setting. … Continue Reading Thingamajig: Mystery doctor […]
Thingamajig: baleen and Hyfrecator
By Alethea Drexler Archives Assistant Thingamajig took a vacation last week, but it’s back. The mystery objects in the black lacquered case were called “bougies,” and they were basically medical pipe-cleaners. They were used to remove debris from small wounds and orifices; the one of the most commonly-cited uses involved dislodging urethral calculi. They are… Continue Reading Thingamajig: baleen and Hyfrecator […]
Thingamajig: lacquered case
By Alethea Drexler Archives Assistant A request was made this past weekend that the Thingamajig feature be posted on the blog’s main page so that it could be tagged and archived, instead of being replaced completely every week. So . . . here it is! Black lacquered carrying case This week’s Thingamajig came with the… Continue Reading Thingamajig: lacquered case […]
John P. McGovern finding aid available
One of the great collections housed at the McGovern Collections is MS 115 the John P. McGovern papers. For about five years, the archivist Pam Cornell worked with the papers. She did preservation work, organized the collection, created the inventory and the finding aid. The finding aid is now available in a printed format at… Continue Reading John P. McGovern finding aid available […]
Dissertations and Theses
The culmination of an advanced degree is usually a document describing and proving an original contribution to scholarship. Today’s scholars typically put their Dissertations or Theses online, such as the ones available at DigitalCommons@ The Texas Medical Center No electronic publishing for the 17th century student! Students at Basel Switzerland were among some of the… Continue Reading Dissertations and Theses […]
Wonder of photos
There is something about printed photos that appeals to us on a basic level. It is the “oh-I-want-to-see” effect. If one person whips out a photo, everyone near by wants a glimpse. Each photo offers a glimmer of another place and time. The photo shown today depicts a studio shoot at the Speech and Hearing Institute, Health Science Center,… Continue Reading Wonder of photos […]
An archivist retires
Every archivist leaves behind a bit of themselves in the archives they oversee. The legacy might be simple, such as enhancing collections that are close to the archivist’s heart. It might be the act of embracing new ideas or taking a risk on a new collection area. Few archivists have the opportunity to create an… Continue Reading An archivist retires […]