Dating Vintage Equipment?

Has anybody here put together a timeline for vintage bags and related equipment? I've always been completely fascinated by the evolution of enema/douche bags in the US.

Who were the manufacturers? When did they move from the large capacity 3 and 4 quart bags to the much more common 2 quart units? When did black nozzles give way to white? No details are too small - when did the shut-off clamps change from the hinge design to the spring design and why - was it cost? White hose and nozzles - was this change to aid in determining if the equipment was clean? Why did bent vaginal nozzles go out of favor? Did women not know how to position them properly? I also enjoy observing the variations on the ribs in the red hoses. I have a thousand such questions/observations.

Obviously, given the number of manufacturers and the huge number of bags produced, affixing very specific time periods to particular models/types/characteristics would not be possible, but coming up with some rules of thumb is great fun. For example, one of my arbitrary determinants of a vintage bag is hose color - red hose is one of the first things I look for. From what I've been able to surmise, the move from red to white hose took place in the early to mid-70's.

I have a few bags here in my collection with dates, either apparently scribbled on the boxes by the owners, or by the pharmacy as part of the warranty registration. These small details make my wonderful bags that much more dear to me. They truly are all wonderful works of art and I love learning about their history. I think I've missed my true calling as a fountain syringe historian and designer!

I have always seen pictures of vintage enema stuff and it is really fascinating.

My mother was a nurse and she had all kinds of equipment, I think she stole a lot of it from the hospital. They still gave a lot of enemas back then in the 40s 50s and 60s. I would love to see some of that equipment again.

I agree,wish there was a book to look up year made etc.

I would think that, if there is not such a book already in existence, that some of the members here who collect vintage equipment could probably publish one -- possibly several of them in collaboration. There's probably a market for a printed one with nice color pics.

Perhaps old mail order catalogues would provide some information. I recall "delivered in a plane wrapper" or something to that effect in my early days of exploring sexuality. I really like the old douche nozzles. We have discussed before the phallic models that must have given a lot of pleasure and relief to some ladies of a previous generation.

Dating vintage equipment is always a challenge. Even the patent dates on some of the equipment will only tell you the patent date even if it was made and sold 10 to 20 years down the road. Making molds has always been an expensive time consuming task. Today with CAD design and rapid prototyping, industry can cut many development costs and time but years ago it was all hand work in most cases.

Probably the best way is to collect all of the Sears, Wards and other catalogs you can which will give a good idea of what was being produced when. Most of the catalogs I have seen covered the rubber goods pages in black and white saving color for the high end clothing and home decoration pages. They would however describe the colors of the equipment in most cases. As time went on, the 4 quart bags seemed to vanish by the early 1940's. Three quart bags could still be found into the early 1950's but they too began to vanish with the introduction of the extra capacity over two quart syringe bags in the top end equipment. It was amazing what could be found in the plain brown Kraft paper wrapped catalogs of years gone by.

The clamps have always varied according to cost. The more expensive equipment always seemed to be equipped with the very elegant lever style clamps while the less expensive units came with the generic snap type clamp which by design was cheaper to make. The use of threads to hold the nozzles into the hose end was also a more expensive way to make equipment. A straight threaded nozzle with a thin rubber gasket was always going to stay sealed. The slip on style fittings became more popular in later years as they are much cheaper to make.

The nozzles went from the nice black hard rubber or Bakelite to the grey or white plastic of today. Some outfits were equipped with up to 4 nozzles and today two nozzles seem to be standard.

It is clear to see that during the Golden Age of enemas, douches and syringes, that some of the most elegant equipment was offered with often several catalog pages devoted to rubber goods. Over the years, those several pages shrank to often times only one page and by the 1970's, perhaps only a part of a page being shared with other sickroom supplies as it was called. The good ole days are gone and the memories are priceless. The 1941 Wards Fall-Winter catalog has an incredible display of syringes over several pages with very detailed descriptions. This was right before WWII when the economy had recovered and advertising was on the way up again. The catalogs were being printed bigger than during the depression years and to see one from the early 1940's is a wonderful trip down memory lane never to be repeated.

Years ago I collected old catalogs in antique shops when I could still find them at reasonable prices. Often times they were only 5-10 dollars a copy for one in good to excellent condition. I lost some of them in a nasty divorce but most of them survived and they are stored away in boxes. Perhaps it is time to shoot some photos of what used to be commonplace in our lives.