Catalog: Vintage Arts: Instruments and Implements (80)

The fancy and highly-stylized, Art Deco, aluminum frame cradles an equally highly-stylized, classically-ribbed, clear glass show globe and finial. If so desired, the show globe will hold colored-water as was the display fashion back "in-the-day". The frame is embellished with a buffed, silver matte finish with design details outlined in contrasting black to further enhance the fabulous, Art Deco styling. The chain link is also painted black, echoing the black detailing of the frame, and it retains most of its gorgeous, original finish, with absolutely no pitting! The hanger medallions retain their original finish and are ready for mounting. Here and there, the metal parts retain a faint honey tone adding to the show globe's antique charm. This fabulous apothecary showpiece measures approximately 34.5 inches from the top of its fancy, ceiling-mount hanger to the base. If desired, it is possible to add additional chain links to further extend the overall length of the globe.

The condition is excellent. The globe glass is clean and clear except for some very, very faint haze on the interior top of the globe just below the neck. A perfectly fitting, ground-glass faceted finial echoing Art Deco design, rounds out this beauty.

The combined take-away of this offering, this outstanding piece of nearly 100 year old, American pharmacy history, is its exquisite Art Deco styling with extraordinary visual appeal, its utterly excellent condition, and its very scarce, ceiling-mount design, making it a true rarity among extant Apothecary antiques and collectibles!

This wonderful, 1940-1950s vintage hand made and painted mortar and pestle display once adorned the interior of a Connecticut pharmacy. The display is decorated in red with painted bronze details for added flair.

Measures about 7 high” x 4.5” wide and is in very nice condition! Some unobtrusive surface paint loss and scuffing including a few tiny nail holes are apparent but do not distract from their visual appeal!

The black-painted, metal frame houses a plastic, cream-colored insert that features an embossed lettering and design technique that advertises the name of the product for sale. The background of this insert sports a streamlined, horizontal, raised "striping" reminiscent of the Art Deco era. When light is allowed to pass through the plastic, translucent insert, the insert appears to be magically illuminated so that the green-colored backside of the sign shines through with brilliance. This effect can be enjoyed by either hanging the sign in front of a window or by fastening tiny LED lights (not included) on the backside of the frame.

The dimensions are approximately 48"L x 5.5"W x 3/4"D, and the overall condition of the sign is very good. The plain metal frame has been repainted in a durable, semi-gloss, black finish. The painted finish is in very good condition with areas of minor surface imperfection and slight areas of roughness here and there.

The vintage plastic insert is laminated in two tones, with the front noting a rich, aged, cream color, and the back noting a rich green tone. The front of the insert has faint surface imperfections and some areas of uneven discoloring. The lower left portion of the letter "M" has a minor, small, unobtrusive crack. Overall, the insert retains a nice glossed surface patina commensurate with its age.

A note: the first photo best represents what the sign will look like when illuminated from the back with LED or natural window lighting.

Measuring 60 inches wide by 40 inches high, this highly colorful chart is just chock-full of information! Metal hanging grommets placed across the top facilitated display back in the 1950's. This incredibly interesting, double-sided chart highlights the science and history of sight as well as its medical assessment and its effects on one's ability to function productively in society.

The front side of the chart is entitled, "Vision: Master Key to Man's Progress" and highlights the biology and history of sight with a side discussion of optical illusions. The back side is entitled, "Science: Multiplies Eye Power" and discusses the science of vision and its correction featuring the Snellen Vision Chart, an Astigmatism chart and a Color Discrimination chart.

Condition is quite good with excellent color and clarity of print. Foxing is present on the front side side of the chart where the Optical Illusion information is printed. A very small edge tear is evident on the bottom of the chart and is most readily seen in photos when viewing the bottom back side of the chart where the description of Color Discrimination is found. (please see photos)

A fabulous, mid-20th century retrospective on vision as well as 1950's Optometry and Ophthalmology! Would be wonderful framed between two pieces of plexi-glass to facilitate display on either side!

Dating to the 1950s - 1960s era, this beautiful, white and cobalt blue colored pair are in excellent condition. The large jar measures 10.75 inches tall x 6 inches in diameter. The small jar measures 7.5 inches high x 4.75 inches in diameter.

Ready for display in your vintage drug store collection!

The weights are housed in plastic, fitted cases and include tweezers for securing the various milligram weights. Each cased set offers a total of sixteen gram and ounce brass weights - 1 metric, small, coin-size weight and various, metal, gram and grain weights.

The cases measure 4.5 inches long x 4 inches wide x 1.75 inches high.

Condition of the BRISTOL-MEYERS case is very good with wear commensurate with use and age and is priced $45.00.

Case #2 marked OHAUS on the top is in excellent condition and is priced $60.00. This set comes with its original shipping box and appears unused.

This is a fabulous white ceramic 1950s pharmacy drug store display with decorative gold gilt embellishments. The mortar measures 7 inches tall and the solid pestle is 8.5 inches long.

The condition is near excellent with no damage, cracks or dings.

An outstanding display that will compliment any pharmacy collection.

This fine example measuring 6"L x 1.5"W x 1"H, sports a warm patina commensurate with an instrument of this age.

The mold is marked "S. MAW & SONS, THOMPSON - LONDON", a noted manufacturer of quality medical instruments and tools for many years).

The double carbon amplifier microphones measure 4¾" x 2⅜" x 7/16" thick. The front view sports two decorative "snowflake" designed ports, and the base has a small swiveling leg for standing on a flat surface. The leather tab is provided so that the hearing device could be attached to a shirt button.

The receiver microphone is attached to both an "ON/OFF" switch and the earpiece via two coiled wires that have a two-pronged end for battery attachment. Please note that the battery is not functional nor does it have the correct ports for receiving the wire prongs...but it came with the case and fits quite nicely!!

The condition is very good with wear commensurate with a well-loved antique.

WIKIPEDIA has some very inetersting info on this style of hearing aid which was produced from the early 1900s till the late 1930s.

There are 3 examples from the most notable company, BECTON, DICKINSON & Co. The 1939 B-D YALE LOC box contains 8 needles. The B-D ERUSTO sample from the early 1940s has 8 needles that are secured in a metal tray. Each needle includes their cleaning wire. The third B-D box has a patent date of 1941 and sports 8 tiny needles secured in a metal tray. Condition is very good.

Next are 2 boxes of ECO RUSTLESS HYPODERMIC NEEDLES that each house 6 needles in a steel cylinder base. The boxes and contents are in very nice condition. A plastic sleeve of cleaning wires remains in one box.

A single box of LILLY HYPODERMIC NEEDLES contains 9 needles that nestle into their fitted box. Condition of the contents is fine, and the box is in fairly good condition showing old tape on front. Dates to the 1940s.

A single box of ECO STAINLESS HYPODERMIC NEEDLES sports 6 needles in a fitted metal base. The contents are fine and the box is modestly worn. This example also dates to the 1940s.

Finally, a partial box of 9 needles clipped into a metal tray round out this very nice grouping of vintage stock. Labeled LUER SLIP and sporting their cleaning wires, this group dates to the 1940s. Box is fair.

Hard to find in this quantity and quality!

This handsome cabinet is constructed of a hardwood (perhaps walnut) and sports an eye-appealing, front-facing, bakelite, control panel. The cabinet is rather heavy and measures 15"W x 14" H x 12.5" with a canted front panel and two wooden handles for transport.

The bottom drawer stores all of the wires and connections noted in the photo. The condition of the cabinet is very good with wear commensurate with age. One wire is brittle and non functional. There are 2 wires included that plug into the device as seen in photo. From the Philadelphia Hospital Supply Co.

An awesome piece of medical instrumentation - fusing both form and function not often found in today's market!

In addition to treating all manner of animal ailments, this product was also marketed as a valuable remedy for barbed wire cuts, old sores, galls, joint stiffness---invaluable to hunters, prospectors, surveyors as a soothing, healing, liniment!

This is an unopened medicine in very good condition that contains a full bottle with an applied label. This circa 1940s medicine measures 6.25"H x 2"W x 2"D and is ready for your veterinary collection!

This is part of many “female specific” old pharmacy stock items for sale.

*****Group #1*****

Some History:
Although homeopathy has its roots in ancient Greek medicine and in the work of the 16th-century physician Paracelsus, modern homeopathy dates back 200 years to the work of the German doctor and chemist, Samuel Hahnemann. Hahnemann qualified as a physician but ceased to practice as a doctor because of what he saw as the barbaric medical practices of his day - which included bloodletting and the overuse of toxic medicines, leading to horrific side effects.

A brilliant linguist, he earned a living from translating books and was interested by a reference in a medical textbook of the use of China (Peruvian bark) as a cure for malaria. Intrigued to know why China worked, he took doses of the remedy until he himself began to exhibit malarial symptoms. He stopped taking the China and the symptoms went away. From this he deduced that the ancient principle of 'like cures like' actually worked.

His next step was to determine if there were safe levels at which toxic substances could be given - and still cure the type of symptoms that they might otherwise cause. His experiments with dilution led him to discover that the more a substance was diluted, the more potent it appeared to become.

Homeopathic medicine was born, but in practicing it, Hahnemann and his followers were subjected to ridicule and persecution by the medical establishment, despite the fact that they were seeing patients getting better on tiny doses of medicines, prescribed on the basis of 'like cures like'. Many European practitioners immigrated to the United States, where homeopathy flourished in the 19th century – until the medical establishment there systematically acted to remove its influence.

Hahnemann ended his days as a renowned and very busy practitioner in Paris, working into his 80's. He is interred at the Cimetière du Père Lachaise, where a large monument honors him and his discovery of Homeopathy.

Decorative stock bottles such as this beauty were meant to be refilled and reused and were the pride of the pharmacy staff. Eye-catching, reflective medicine bottles such as these also served as an advertising mechanism as they often were placed prominently in pharmacy windows to attract passers-by.

This 8.5 inch, amber, wide-mouth example reveals ground glass construction and dates to the 1920's era.

This empty bottle is in excellent condition with no damage. The ground glass stopper cannot be removed and appears perfect.

The label shows light wear and staining commensurate with age and use. Although the label appears silver in the photos, it is more of a GOLD-toned foil.

A difficult to find bottle with a label in this very nice condition.

The bottle measures nearly 7.5 inches high and is complete with original contents. The condition of the bottle is very nice with only minor staining to the label next to the letters in the word, BONKORA. Although the box is damaged (see photos), it displays very well as it retains the image of the nude female- an interesting conversation piece!

A bit of history: BONKORA was actually advertised as a weight loss treatment in print advertising, although this usage is not stated on the box. With sales in decline in the late 1930s, the BONKORA manufacturer attempted to make their product a bit more interesting by streamlining the original, bulkier silhouette in their advertising and adding a naked lady on the label. While a clever touch, the product’s popularity continued to wane – perhaps due to a combination of the economics of the Great Depression and the increased federal enforcement of earlier-legislated laws prohibiting unsubstantiated, and wild, curative claims for any and all maladies.

This complete display consists of 24, small 'sample' medicine boxes, each of which contain colorful little red pills!

Each small box's label includes ingredients described as 'laxative and cathartic’.

Packed by CHANDLER MEDICINE CO. - Office 2812 Dodier Street, ST. LOUIS, MO., the display measures 6" x 5" x 1" and is in unused, very nice condition. ***NOTE*** The left side edges of the box have separated from each corner and the front top panel which serves as the front display when open is partially detached from its side. This type of separation does occur over time and is noted for full disclosure. AS noted in photos, this display presents wonderfully despite its minor, age-related flaws.

A great, visually-appealing collectible for the pharmacist, nurse or doctor in your life!

The jar cover has a repaired crack at the base of the knob as seen in the photo, but the jar otherwise is quite fine lending flair and elegance to your apothecary collection.