They say hindsight is 20/20. What seemed like a good idea at the time can sometimes look completely ridiculous to us in the present. This collection of medical oddities is a perfect example. These pictures show an assortment of medical procedures, devices, and theories that, at the time, probably made perfect sense, but now they seem absolutely absurd.
Take a look:
Masks worn by doctors during the Plague
The beaks held scented substances. Read more about Plague Doctors on wikipedia.
Children in an iron lung before the polio vaccination
Many children lived for months in these machines, though not all survived. c. 1937. Read more about the iron lung.
Corset damage to a ribcage.
19th century London. History of corsets.
Dr. Kilmer’s Female Remedy
“Specially adapted to female constitutions,” this was the first product made by Dr. Kilmer & Co., an enterprise founded in the 1870s by a successful medical practioner from Binghamton, New York. Its label proclaims the medicine as “The Great Blood Purifier and System Regulator. The Only Herbal Alterative and Deuprative Ever Discovered.”
Kilmer’s company was one of the first firms to advertise nationally, and examples of its 18 herbal remedies, including the popular “Swamp Root and Kidney Cure,” could be found in homes across the country. Due to their questionable ingredients and extravagant therapeutic claims, proprietary medicines such as Dr. Kilmer’s became targeted by the National Food and Drug Act of 1906.
Source: http://americanhistory.si.edu/
Tanning babies
… to offset winter rickets at the Chicago Orphan Asylum, 1925
Prosthetic leg
Woman with an artificial leg too embarrassed to show her face, c. 1890-1900. Read more about the history of prosthetics.
Prosthetic hand
Wooden prosthetic hand, c. 1800
Early plastic surgery
Selection of some items used to disguise facial injuries.
Photograph by: Horace Nicholls | More info: http://www.museumsandstuff.org/
Blood transfusion bottle
England, 1938 | A brief history of blood transfusion
Dr. Clark’s Spinal Apparatus
Advertisement, 1878
Some say Clark was a charlatan, namely Robert Bogdan.
Neurological exam with electrical device
c. 1884 | History of neurological exams
Another prosthetic leg
You can buy this one: Etsy
US Civil War surgeon’s kit
http://www.medicalantiques.com/
Walter Reed physiotherapy store
1920’s | History of physiotherapy
Boy rolling in “invalid cart”
c. 1915
Obstetric phantom
Italy, 1700-1800 — Tool to teach medical students and midwives about childbirth
Radithor
Radiator was a product of the Bailey Radium Laboratory of East Orange, New Jersey, founded by one “Dr.” William Bailey, a Harvard dropout who falsely claimed to have a medical degree from the University of Vienna. In 1915 he had served time in jail for mail fraud. A few years later, after a stint peddling strychnine, the active ingredient in rat poison, as an aphrodisiac under the brand name Las-I-Go For Superb Manhood, he began selling Radithor as “Pure Sunshine in a Bottle.” He claimed it would cure more than 150 different ailments.
Lewis Sayre’s scoliosis treatment
Claude Beck’s early defibrillator
Antique birthing chair
A History of the Birthing Chair
Chinese surgical knives
1801-1920
Anatomical model
Doctors were not allowed to touch the women’s bodies, so they would point to describe pain locations. Read more.
Radiology nurse technician
WWI, France, 1918
Early anesthesia
1855-1860: One of the first surgical procedures using ether as an anesthesia. Crawford Long often used ether.
Lecture auditorium
Rush Medical College, Chicago, 1900
Insanity treatment
Self-surgery
Leonid Rogozov, the only surgeon on an Antarctic expedition, performing surgery on himself after suffering from appendicitis. April 30, 1961.
Again, these pictures represent some of humanity’s best attempts at medical innovation. They might seem absurd to us now, but I wonder what modern medicine is doing today that will seem ridiculous in years to come.