In February 1881, “W. S. Morrison” of Iowa received his D.D.S. degree from the Philadelphia Dental College. As winters began in 1882 and then in 1883, Dr. William S. Morrison advertised in The Times of Philadelphia that there was “No charge for gas if teeth are to be inserted” and then that he filled “teeth without pain by use of medicines, exercise of gentleness and care.” Continuing his winter advertising emphasis, Morrison released a trade card (left) featuring snow-covered trees and homes and a young girl dressed in a fur-trimmed hat, coat, and muffler. There is some chance that, in these days before cocaine’s availability, his “application made to the gums” involved chilling teeth to numbness with a vapocoolant such as an ether spray. A vapocoolant might also explain his preference for wintry motifs on this trade card from the Wood Library-Museum’s Ben Z. Swanson Collection. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
In February 1881, “W. S. Morrison” of Iowa received his D.D.S. degree from the Philadelphia Dental College. As winters began in 1882 and then in 1883, Dr. William S. Morrison advertised in The Times of Philadelphia that there was “No charge for gas if teeth are to be inserted” and then that he filled “teeth without pain by use of medicines, exercise of gentleness and care.” Continuing his winter advertising emphasis, Morrison released a trade card (left) featuring snow-covered trees and homes and a young girl dressed in a fur-trimmed hat, coat, and muffler. There is some chance that, in these days before cocaine’s availability, his “application made to the gums” involved chilling teeth to numbness with a vapocoolant such as an ether spray. A vapocoolant might also explain his preference for wintry motifs on this trade card from the Wood Library-Museum’s Ben Z. Swanson Collection. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. UJYC@aol.com.
