Magpie Mind

Just a quick note to see if there is anyone out there that collects vintage medical equipment. For me the hunt of collecting is just a big a rush as the play. I have collected for some years and all from the 1920s, syringes, stethoscope, sphygmometers. All looks to be getting harder to find now as more and more people getting a liking for this kind of stuff. Would like to know what the oddest piece of equipment you have in your collection is, mine would have to be a gentleman's morphine kit.

On a side note I'd never use my vintage stuff, nice shiny new stuff for that 😃

Caligula, I'm a big-time collector of antique and vintage medical and home health care items. Not so much the operating room instruments that cut and pierce, but more of the items that go into the vagina and anus, such as douche nozzles, bags, enema gear, quack electrical and ultra-violet apparatus as well as books, pamphlets, brochures and catalogs that depict such items. I also avidly collect vintage rubber girdles and feminine sanitary accessories. Somehow I fit all that into the health collecting equation.

My strangest piece would have to be a roto-rooter type vaginal nozzle called Dr. Larson's Sanitary Device. It is made of metal and has two curvy blades that enter the vagina. There is a handle at the base that can be turned to move the blades along the vaginal wall for a thorough cleaning. Another unusual piece in my collection is Valens Cosmo Magno Applicator, a 6 inch long and one and a quarter inch thick solid copper rectal applicator that is supposed to cure everything in the universe. A real quack gem. Yet another quirky and quacky device is Roger's Key To The Nervous System. This is a gutta-percha rectal dilator that opens to a full 3 inches. The booklet that comes with it gives great scientific and medical instructions such as when used for children...it simply states.."don't open as far"...what a scream. Like you, I have fun collecting such stuff and consider the chase and search the best part.

Wow nice to know I'm not the only one out there that loves the thrill of the hunt. I love the sound of 'Dr. Larson's Sanitary Device' The more strange and way out something is the more I find myself looking to get it. You get some very odd looks from shop keepers as half don't even know what the item is. lucky for me as then I can get a a good price. Like it sounds with you for me it is all just part of it and I hope the well of old gear doesn't run dry too soon 😃

Caligula, the well for vintage medical paraphernalia is deep and I don't think it will dry up any time soon. Whenever I think I've seen it all, 'voila' another strange item makes its appearance. I check ebay daily and use my key words to quickly assess new and recent seller submissions. Misspelled items usually yield the best buys, since buyer competitors would not look there.

I hadn't thought to look for misspelled but bet it happens lots with medical stuff 😄 thanks for the tip. I'm a hunter on ebay but there is also many curiosity shops in London and I just love being elbow deep in old junk if I know I'll pull out a gem.

It's also the accessories that can make a scene setting become MORE than just a few toys. The proper lamp, wall posters in period for the overall room, Marketing stuff like Shwag for the tangentials to a fet exam scene. Example being- a coffee cup for Gyne meds, pens for a company that makes Enema supplies- the often hard to find drawer stuffers like sample packets of surgilube and similar samples. Packets of douche powder were a fond memory of things filched from exam rooms long ago.

Thinking of further details, like blood pressure gear wall mounted style. The glass jars with cottony items. That pump top alcohol dispenser. Proper office stationary and even "instruction sheets" for home procedures so your patient can be given a "how to prepare for the exam" schedule page. Every little detail makes it closer to perceived as real. Wall certificates for various courses. It's all good if we want it to be.

I've got a couple of rather old stethoscopes, one is a Ford stethoscope, the other a Reiger-Bowles. Got both through eBay. I don't use them in play exams because the earpieces are hard and hurt after a while. All the modern stethoscopes I've got have soft earpieces.