Doctor's Mirror

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Is there an official name for the round mirror that doctors used to wear on a headband? I actually knew an elderly doctor at The Cleveland Clinic who wore one of those into the mid-1980's but I don't think they do anymore.

Picture at: http://www.costumes4less.com/Groupdetail.asp?sku=BB286

Paul

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[nq:1]Is there an official name for the round mirror that doctors used to wear on a headband? I actually knew an elderly doctor at The Cleveland Clinic who wore one of those into the mid-1980's but I don't think they do anymore. Picture at: http://www.costumes4less.com/Groupdetail.asp?sku=BB286[/nq]
They are called Head Mirrors. See:
for a scan of a catalog page from a 1953 catalog of a surgical instrument company that I worked for for several years. I've sold these things. (Though in the 60s, not the 50s)
While they are mirrors, they are used as reflectors. They reflect a light from behind the patient down the patient's throat or into the patient's ear or nose. The hole in the center allowed the doctor to view the anatomy with the eye blocked by the mirror.

You will see names attached to them, but they are the names of doctors who have designed a particular style. On the page in the scan, there is an Amberg, a Noltini, and a Jansen-Pierce. There's also a "Boilo", which was the most common one I sold, that is a manufacturer's name. The Boilo was less likely to fog up. The "Mueller" is the name of the company whose catalog is used: V. Mueller & Co., Chicago. Later a Division of American Hospital Supply Corporation.
They've been replaced by fiber optic viewing devices that provide light from light transmitting fibers built into the wall of the viewing instrument. No bulb to block the view, cool light, and flexible shafts.
Some of those "antique" surgical devices around are products that I routinely sold.

Tony Cooper
Orlando, FL

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[nq:1]Is there an official name for the round mirror that doctors used to wear on a headband? I actually knew ... Clinic who wore one of those into the mid-1980's but I don't think they do anymore. Picture at: http://www.costumes4less.com/Groupdetail.asp?sku=BB286 Paul[/nq]
I went to my ear doctor last week and he is still using one of them. No, we're not in the sticks. Lexington is the medical center for this half of the state.
Bill
Lexington, KY
Reverse halves of the user name for my e-address

Doctor's Mirror

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