This category includes items manufactured from 1865 through the early 20th century. I have divided the category of Post-Civil War Amputation and Surgical Sets in two sub-groups: Post-Civil War Cased Amputation & Surgical Sets, and Post-Civil War Pocket Surgical Sets.
THE ADVENT OF STERILIZATION
With regards to the instruments in any Post-Civil War set, it is important to note that sterilization of surgical instruments began in the 1870’s – 1880’s. Surgical kits from this time have a conspicuous absence of composite, ebony, ivory, or other non-metallic handles. Nickel-plating occurred post-1870, and chrome-plating post-1877, so if the instrument has chrome-plated or metal parts (i.e. a knife or saw handle), it was very likely made after 1880 and almost certainly post-1890. The 1880’s were the end of production of the pre-sterilization items, due to lack of interest by surgeons who were practicing antiseptic surgery and using all metal and chrome-plated handles instead of the porous non-metallic handles.
From a manufacturing and production standpoint, the transition from non-sterilization to sterilization was not instantaneous. After the Civil War, many of the major manufacturers had leftover cases – with velvet lining, mahogany wood, brass corners/bands, keyed locks and cartouches. This overlapped with production of metal-handled, sterilizable instruments , so it is possible to find later instruments in earlier-style cases. This can make it very difficult for a collector to know if a set is truly a valid “crossover ” set, or a faked/put-together set. Some manufacturers like Sharp and Smith of Chicago, produced sets which at first glance, appear to be Civil War period; sets made by them have velvet-lined mahogany cases with brass fittings, cartouche and keyed lock. However, Edmonson states that they were in business from 1876 – 1882, and so anything with their name on it is strictly post-war. Similar pre-sterilization type sets (but of post-war manufacture) were sold in Europe well into the turn of the century, but not in America.
POST-1890 SURGICAL SETS
Post-1890 sets are very different from earlier cases – the velvet lining of the case is gone, either replaced by leather or absent any lining whatsoever. The knives and saw have metal handles or are chrome-plated, and other instruments such as scissors and forceps now have disarticulating or open joints (instead of screw joints), plated (rather than blued) springs, ovoid finger holes (as opposed to round), and multi-step racheting devices to allow for locking.
PSEUDO-SCIENCE AND PATENT MEDICINES
As science became part of medical thinking, quack devices became more elaborate, relying on pseudo-scientific jargon and convoluted machinery to convince the public of their medical merit. Phrenology, for example, which gained steady popularity in the early 20th century, used a psychograph. When placed on the patient’s head, the instrument measured the conformation of the skull, and in less than a minute, claimed to provide a report on a person’s physical and mental development.
A legion of other pseudo-medical (AKA “quack”) devices were produced in the latter half of the 19th century. Countless “machines”, based upon the concepts of electricity and magnetism, were devised by unscrupulous individuals and marketed as a cure for every kind of ailment, especially “female” or “male” complaints. Bust developers and manhood restorers were also promoted. The propriety of the Victorian age, combined with expanded communication and mail-order, tapped into an enormous market of individuals whose desire for a cure was as great as their desire for discretion.
One such useless contraption that promised health benefits by using a spectrum of light, the “Violet Ray” machine was marketed at the turn of the century to treat a host of medical conditions. The boom in immigration provided even more opportunities to sell such devices and nostrums to trusting individuals whose pockets were not lined with cash, and unable to afford proper medical care. My own grandmother spent her hard-earned money to treat my grandfather’s back pain with such a “machine”, which of course was useless – apart from any placebo effect it elicited.
Unlike the end-of century boom in mechanical devices, patent medicines and nostrums had existed in America as far back as the 18th century, mostly imported from England. Some of the earliest, like “John Hooper’s Female Pills” and “Dr. Bateman’s Pectoral Drops” were manufactured as proprietary medicines manufactured under grants to the Royal Family, and were sold in America by postmasters, grocers, and other merchants. Its usage was sure to “cure” the commonest of ailments – fatigue, headaches, indigestion, back pain, arthritis, baldness – even cancer. “Female complaints” were frequently the target of such remedies, offering hope for women to find relief from monthly discomforts.
By the mid-19th century, manufacturing of patent medicines was a major industry in America. Generally high in alcoholic content, the remedies were popular with people who found alcohol therapeutic. Even worse, many concoctions were fortified with morphine, opium, or cocaine. Some of these products were labeled for infants and children, with devastating results.
THE “BABY KILLER”
Charlotte N. Winslow, a pediatric nurse, originally created Mrs. Winslow’s Soothing Syrup as a cure-all for fussy babies. The syrup was first produced in 1849 by her son-in-law, Jeremiah Curtis, and his partner Benjamin Perkins, in Bangor, Maine. It was widely marketed in North America and the United Kingdom as a treatment for babies who were crying, teething, or had dysentery (diarrhea). A harried, overworked mother with a household of children and yet another baby (thanks to a lack of contraceptive choices) was a prime target. If it would “soothe” her crying infant, or control the vomiting and diarrhea, she’d buy it.
Unfortunately, it worked a little too well. The syrup contained morphine 65 mg per ounce, as well as alcohol. One teaspoonful contained enough morphine to kill the average child. The morphine content in one teaspoon was equivalent to 20 drops of laudanum (opium tincture); and it was recommended that babies 6 months old receive no more than 2-3 drops of laudanum! Many babies went to sleep after taking the medicine and never woke up again, leading to the syrup’s nickname: the baby killer.
FINALLY – THE PURE FOOD AND DRUG ACT OF 1906
After many years of watching the public ingest worthless – even downright harmful – patent medicines, legitimate physicians and medical societies had had enough. They knew the remedies did not cure, they discouraged the sick from seeking legitimate treatments, and caused alcohol and drug dependency. The temperance movement of the late 19th century provided another voice of criticism, protesting the use of alcohol in the medicines. By the end of the 19th century, Americans favored laws to force manufacturers to disclose the remedies’ ingredients and use more realistic language in their advertising. So-called muckraking journalists wrote articles and books exposing the fraudulent industry and finally, with strong support from President Theodore Roosevelt, a Pure Food and Drug Act was passed by Congress in 1906, paving the way for public health action against unlabeled or unsafe ingredients, misleading advertising, and the practice of quackery.