Medical museum: Fiestaware
June 01, 2014
by Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor
The picture and description appear courtesy of Dr. M. Donald Blaufox, M.D., Ph.D, from his website: www.mohma.org.
Each month we visit Dr. Blaufox’s Museum of Historical Medical Artifacts to take a look back at the medical equipment that cleared the way for what patients encounter in doctors’ offices and operating rooms of today. Some equipment may be recognizable, while other inventions featured here have since become obsolete or have had their usefulness discredited.
Category: Radionuclides
Estimated Date: c. 1930
Name: Fiestaware
Manufacturer: Homer Laughlin China Company
Description: These colorful dishes were given out in movie theaters in the 1930s and early 40s. The vibrant color was achieved with materials of high atomic number that included some which were radioactive including uranium oxide. A minute amount of radioactivity can usually be detected at the surface. They are quite common and are often encountered in antique shops.
Each month we visit Dr. Blaufox’s Museum of Historical Medical Artifacts to take a look back at the medical equipment that cleared the way for what patients encounter in doctors’ offices and operating rooms of today. Some equipment may be recognizable, while other inventions featured here have since become obsolete or have had their usefulness discredited.
Category: Radionuclides
Estimated Date: c. 1930
Name: Fiestaware
Manufacturer: Homer Laughlin China Company
Description: These colorful dishes were given out in movie theaters in the 1930s and early 40s. The vibrant color was achieved with materials of high atomic number that included some which were radioactive including uranium oxide. A minute amount of radioactivity can usually be detected at the surface. They are quite common and are often encountered in antique shops.