W. Bruce Fye Center For the History of Medicine: Curators' Favorites

This two-piece artifact made of orange plastic and rubber was donated to the Archives with the following note by a Mayo Clinic neurologist who retired in 2014:

"This is a 'lorkel,' a snorkel for those with laryngectomies who loved to snorkel.  It was invented circa 1974 by Bob Keith, a speech pathologist who loved to SCUBA and who dealt with these folks.  [Most] put this in their mouth [and] breathed through the nose; there was a special mask with fitting for [it]..."

It is a staff favorite because it represents the best spirit of Mayo innovation in support of the needs of the patient.  Mr. Keith invented the lorkel to serve a very specialized group, using his own initiative and based on his own experiences.

This candid photograph of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (center) with Dr. William J. “Will” Mayo (right) and Dr. Charles H. “Charlie” Mayo (left) was taken during the president’s visit to Rochester and the Mayo Clinic on August 8, 1934. What makes this picture interesting is the prominent visibility of Roosevelt’s leg braces; he was diagnosed with polio in 1921, and the disease paralyzed his legs. Roosevelt’s dependence on braces, canes, ramps, and wheelchairs was largely hidden from the public to maintain confidence during the nation’s struggles through the Great Depression and World War II. The press respectfully refrained from photographing or filming the president while he “walked”, which he did by leaning against a cane, an escort’s arm, or a handrail, then swinging his legs forward, keeping himself upright by sheer arm strength and balance.

A ceremony at Soldiers Field to honor Dr. Will and Dr. Charlie was attended by approximately 75,000 people and broadcast to the nation via radio. In his speech the president proclaimed that “Medicine has taught us how important it is to look beyond the result to the cause, not only of human sickness, but of those social disorders out of which individual difficulties necessarily arise.”  

This photograph taken during the Soldiers Field ceremony demonstrates how well the president’s disability was hidden from the public. The grandstand, which was built with a ramp rather than stairs, featured a podium with discreet handles that allowed the president to hold himself upright during his speech.  

It is not known whether the president or his family ever discussed his disability with the Mayo brothers or other Mayo Clinic staff. 

There are old books, and then there are incunabula. Incunabula are books or pamphlets printed in Europe prior to 1500, before widespread access to a printing press. The Liber Chronicarum is considered a landmark incunabulum. It was written by Hartmann Schedel, a medical doctor and humanist, and printed by Anton Koberger, a printer and publisher, in 1493 while they were both living in Nuremberg. Koberger was also the godfather of Albrecht Dürer, one of the most famous printers in history. The book was written in Latin, but also had a German edition. It was commissioned as a chronicle of Christian world history prior to 1493; however, it is best known for its graphic design, woodcuts, and city descriptions. 

The W. Bruce Fye History of Medicine Library has an uncolored edition in Latin, purchased in 1966. This folio leaf is from another edition and has been hand colored. It includes a depiction of John Mesue, a physician, examining a specimen in a bottle as well as sun and moon woodcuts that strongly resemble work attributed to Dürer. It shows the depth and breadth of knowledge made available through the Mayo libraries and historical units.  It is also a fantastic piece of art and history that should be displayed at least once. 

One consequence of the Mayo Clinic’s fame was that businesses and individuals with no connection to Mayo tried to take advantage of its stellar reputation. In the time before mass communication and the internet, the clinic frequently received letters asking for confirmation of claims--that a doctor had trained or worked at Mayo, for example, or questions about supposedly Mayo-endorsed products from medicines to ladies’ corsets. It should come as no surprise that at some point a “Mayo Clinic Diet” would appear and that the public would want to follow it. The Archives has large numbers of letters, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, from people either requesting a copy of the Diet or asking if the copy they had received from someone they knew was genuine. In fact, there was not an official Mayo Clinic Diet until a book with that title, authored by a Mayo consultant, was published in 2010.  

1965 letter with mimeographed diet instructions

This letter from Quebec, Canada, and copy of a “Mayo Clinic Diet” were received in 1965. Several versions with variable instructions can be found in the Diet Collection. In this case the ladies were not fazed by the direction to “Eat until you are stuffed and then force yourself to eat some more” (number 7), but were very concerned about how to categorize the color of vegetables at dinner (number III).

Diet request letters, excerpts, 1965

These excerpts show the international scope of both Mayo’s reputation and the supposed “Diet’s” influence. The New York example also illustrates the sometimes dubious chain of authority by which versions of the “Diet” were spread.

In the early 1890s, surgeons were still trying to find a safe and effective method for intestinal anastomosis. Dr. John B. Murphy, an innovative and prominent Chicago surgeon, devised a simple device that became known as the Murphy button. Each half of the button was sewn to an intestinal opening and then joined together by the button’s stems.  As the tissue healed, the button was released to be passed from the body. The Mayo brothers, frequent visitors to Dr. Murphy’s operating room, obtained one of the buttons during a visit to Chicago. In 1893, they published an article describing its successful use in surgery on an elderly patient.

Shown here is the Murphy button used by Dr. Charles H. Mayo during surgery on a five-month old baby with an intestinal knot.  

When the baby was sent home, Sister Mary Joseph went with the family to help care for him and later sent this thoughtful postcard to the baby’s mother. The baby grew to adulthood, and in 2020 his son donated this Murphy button and postcard to the Mayo Clinic archives.

Illustration showing the components of the Murphy button and its use in surgical anastomosis of the intestine. (Kaula, William J. “Teaching watercolor of the components of and final placement of Murphy’s button for intestinal surgical anastomosis,” OnView: Digital Collections & Exhibits, accessed September 1, 2021, https://collections.countway.harvard.edu/onview/items/show/13351)

Swift Bedspecs Prismatic Reclining Reading Glasses allowed patients to read while lying in bed. The Mayo Clinic Hospital Library had numerous pairs for loan. This pair on display is labeled #66. Advertised as a “new seeing pleasure for your relaxing hours,” in a hospital setting they greatly benefited patients who wanted to read but were unable to sit upright.

This photograph shows a patient using a pair that were brought to him by hospital librarian Ruth Tews.

For six decades, from 1924 to 1983, Mayo Clinic produced large numbers of medical moulages, lifelike wax models formed from molds to demonstrate pathological changes in the body. The wax models were educational tools used in exhibits at major medical meetings to depict the clinic's medical and surgical techniques and to illustrate the signs, symptoms, and treatments of conditions seen at Mayo.

This model is part of a series that demonstrated venipuncture techniques. Mayo Medical Museum staff created the models to be exhibited at the 1944 American Medical Association meeting in Chicago. It was chosen for the current exhibit because of its lifelike realism, the image of one hand grasping another which reminds the viewer of the partnership between W.W. Mayo and Mother Alfred, and the idea of helping one another through the most difficult times.

In the 1940s, Mayo Clinic researchers Dr. Edward C. Kendall (who had previously isolated thyroxine) and Dr. Philip S. Hench (a specialist in arthritic disease) were working to isolate adrenal cortex hormones and develop a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The first patients were treated with Compound E in 1948 and the results were considered miraculous: swollen joints returned to their normal size, and patients who suffered from debilitating pain and immobility were once more able to climb stairs and go shopping. Hench renamed the compound “cortisone”, short for “corticosterone”. In 1950, Kendall, Hench, and Polish-Swiss chemist Tadeusz Reichstein (whose team had independently investigated and isolated adrenal hormones) were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. Within a few years, however, the negative side effects of high-dose, long-term treatment made it clear that cortisone was not a miracle drug after all. Today, corticosteroids are used in a more targeted and limited way to relieve pain and inflammation caused by a variety of medical conditions.

In this photograph of the 1950 ceremony, King Gustaf VI Adolf of Sweden (left) presents Dr. Edward C. Kendall (right) with the Nobel Prize medal, held in the box on display. In contrast to the ceremony’s pageantry and the gold medal the box held, the relative simplicity and practicality of the presentation box speak to the toil and perseverance behind the prize. In 1951, Dr. Philip S. Hench’s reminiscences of his time in Stockholm were published in Proceedings of the Staff Meetings of the Mayo Clinic (Vol. 26, 417-437). Of the moment of Dr. Kendall’s award, he recalled: “I have not found out what the King said to Dr. Kendall or vice versa.  With a twinkle in his eye, Dr. Kendall told me: ‘That’s a secret.’  But I suspect that King Gustaf Adolf asked Dr. Kendall: ‘How do you pronounce 17-hydroxy-11-dehydrocorticosterone?’”

During the Capping and Candle Lighting Ceremony nursing students receive their caps and lamps after a probationary period, signifying acceptance by the school and readiness to begin hospital training. The lamp is a tribute to Florence Nightingale and has come to symbolize care in nursing. The symbol of the lamp marks the student’s transition from a position of study to one of service – lighting the way into the future in nursing.

Methodist-Kahler School of Nursing Lamp Lighting Ceremony, c. 1950s. The nurse on the far left represents Florence Nightingale.