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 […]
Dr. Kenney's Surgical Suite
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu (Click on image for a larger version.) This image seems to have been a fairly recent acquisition for us: Phil’s predecessor got it on eBay, where it was described as a “patient’s room” at Dr. Kenney’s Sanitarium in San Antonio, from around 1920. It’s obviously not a patient’s, room,… Continue Reading Dr. Kenney's Surgical Suite […]
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 […]
Sunset Hospital
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant One of the things that I find persistently frustrating is the speed, ease, and totality with which older hospitals disappear. Many, many, times I’ve received inquiries about such-and-such a hospital and started looking around for information, only to discover that, not only do we not have any material about it… Continue Reading Sunset Hospital […]
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 […]
Thingamajig answer
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant The research center will be closed until Monday for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’m moving the blog post up a couple of days. Last week’s Thingamajig was an H.G Fischer x-ray power source. A similar one can be seen here at the online Museum of Electrotherapy. The Museum’s model may… Continue Reading Thingamajig answer […]
Thingamajig
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant Hey, it’s the Thingamajig! Remember the Thingamajig? I almost didn’t, either! This edition of Thingamajig features an object that has been hanging out at the McGovern Research Center for a long time but was only recently identified (yes, I will be able to post an answer for you next week).… Continue Reading Thingamajig […]