The Doctor’s Office

About this Room

At the turn-of-the-century, most doctors saw their patients at the patients’ own homes…

Find out more about some of the artifacts in the doctor’s office by clicking the arrows on the top left above each image. Don’t see your favorite artifact here? Let us know you’d like to learn more about something by filling out this form.

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Anatomy Chart

Printing across the bottom reads, “White’s Physiological Manikin / James T. White & Co. Publishers New York and London.” Printing on the left reads, “Patented May 18, 1886, March 26, 1889.” This is a life-sized, full-color anatomical chart consisting of basic images with multiple superimposed hinged flaps. In 1884, James Terry White of San Francisco invented this anatomy chart, and he sold over 50,000 of them to schools and doctors.

Atomizer

A medical device used to reduce liquids to a fine spray. This atomizer is made of tin and was identified by a medical historian as an apparatus used specifically to help anesthetize or numb the throat and indicated that small atomizers like this often used cocaine as a numbing agent.

Autoclave or Sterilizer

Made by the Wilmot Castle & Co. Rochester, NY, the front is embossed with, “The Arnold Steam Sterilizer/Pat. May 9. 82.” Though a French physicist discovered in 1680 that hot water and steam cleaned objects thoroughly, it wasn’t until the 1880s that sterilization of surgical and medical tools was widespread.

Cooling Board

Near the handle is a small brass black that reads, “The Climax / Made by the Enterprise MFG Co/ Columbus, Ohio.” When someone died, cooling boards were used to cool their body for a mortician or during a viewing. The deceased was placed on the cooling board, blocks of ice were placed under the table to keep the body cool.

Electrotherapy Machine

“Hall’s Portable Magnetic Machine for Nervous Diseases,” c1860s-1870s. The price on printed material inside machine indicates it was sold for $10. Mild electric shocks were a popular treatment for many maladies during the 19^th century, from treatments of “hysteria” and problems with virility, to migraines and upset stomachs. A crank was turned to generate electricity with a magnet, and the strength of the electric shock depended on how fast the crank was turned. The metal terminals (attached to the crank with wires) were placed on the part of the body needing treatment.

Sphygmomanometer or Blood Pressure Machine

Pilling Special Sphygmomanometer, c1910. Housed in an oak box with a glass bulb, with rubber pressure tubing and bulb. The first device to record blood pressure was invented in 1881, but the modern method of measuring both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels wasn’t developed until 1905.

Wicker Casket

Wicker caskets (also known as transfer caskets) were once used as a reusable, temporary caskets to transport the deceased from their homes, and sometimes as caskets for viewings (it kept the body cooler because the wicker allowed for airflow). We acquired this casket from the permanently closed Phoenix Museum of History. According to their documentation, it dates from the 1920s and was used to transport bodies from their place of death to A.L. Moore and Sons Mortuary. The mortuary was established in 1909 in Phoenix on the south side of Adams St. between 3rd and 4th Avenues, and was owned by the family until the 1980s. The building was condemned in 1996 and this is now the location of the Phoenix Municipal Court building.

Wooten Desk

Patented October 6, 1874 by Rev. William Wooton, and manufactured by the Wooton Desk Company of Indianapolis, IN. Wooton desks are essentially elaborate, self-contained offices that feature foldable desks, mail slots, shelves, drawers, pigeon-holes, and sometimes even hidden compartments. Our Wooten desk is made from walnut with burled walnut veneer panels on exterior and maple and walnut shelves on interior. It was donated as belonging to the first postmaster of Baltimore, MD.

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Exhibit Signage

In the Doctor’s Office

Clippings from the The Phoenix Herald newspaper in April 1879, letting readers know that Dr. Roland Rosson had vaccines available in his office at the Phoenix Hotel, and that he was chosen to treat people who had smallpox or swine flu in Maricopa County.
Clipping from the Phoenix Tribune newspaper on June 1, 1928, about Dr. W. C. Hackett, the first Black physician who was licensed to practice in Arizona.
Quote from the 1895 Phoenix City Directory, promoting the idea of Phoenix as a place to travel or even move to, for your health.
The cover of a pamphlet titled “Health Resorts in Salt River Valley,” published in 1898.
Clipping from the Arizona Republic newspaper on December 30, 1928, promoting The Booker T. Washington Memorial Hospital in Phoenix, with Dr. W. C. Hackett as the Medical Director.

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