Catsparella: ethicon

Friday, July 27, 2012

1950s Ethicon Suture Cat-a-log: Part II

I agree she's terrible, Doctor, but you know there are some even I can't train!

Long before Doctor Cat and I Can Has Cheezburger graced this digital earth, the surly kittens of the Ethicon Suture Cat-a-log were causing mayhem in black & white. The scans seen here were taken from a 1950s copy of the Ethicon Suture Cat-alog, distributed by Ethicon Suture Laboratories, Inc. The odd piece of ephemera, which I acquired after my dad picked it up for me at a book sale, was produced to help promote the surgical suture company, who promised that the catgut used in their products was NOT taken from actual cats, as the misnomer grossly implies.

When I first posted some scans from the Cat-a-log back in April, there was some discussion as to whether they were the first lolcats; However, that dubious distinction belongs to photographers like Harry Pointer (1822-1889) and Harry Whittier Frees (1879–1953), who turned the act of taking and captioning adorable cat photos into shareable art. (For a more in-depth lolcat history, check out "Even in the 1870s, humans were obsessed with ridiculous photos of cats" over on io9.)

While these early examples certainly paved the way for modern kitty captioning practices, it still doesn't explain how today's generation of lolcats grew up to be the grammatically incorrect, cheeseburger aficionados that they are depicted as today.

Please God...make it a boy...

On Call

When I say fifteen minute scrub, I mean fifteen minute scrub

Never again will I trust an interne...

We'll need another interne to hold the retractors...

Breakfast...bedpan...lunch; Lunch...bedpan...supper; supper...bedpan...sleep...

So I sez to the old goat...

Hey Jonesy! Where'd you put those sutures?

...and you can tell the dietician I said so...

I've asked everyone, doctor, but we just don't seem to have any Fallopian tubes!

Now in your own words, tell me all about your dream...

Thursday, April 12, 2012

1950s Ethicon Suture Cat-a-log

My dad recently came across this cool/bizarre find at a book sale: A 1950s "Cat-a-log" distributed by Ethicon Suture Laboratories, Inc., that proves long before the days of LOLcats, people were still obsessed with anthropomorphizing our feline friends.

What is an Ethicon cat-a-log you ask? I'll let the introductory page do the explaining:

This is an unblushing "me too" booklet. The current epidemic of picture books prompted us to get in the act with one of our own, relating to fields of mutual interest - nurses, doctors, and their patients.

As to cats, we owe the name, at least, a salute. The larger percent of our business is in supplying with catgut - an age old misnomer for surgical gut made of sheep intestines. Further, we are happy that cats are not the source of this essential suture material, for many of us are fond of the beautiful little creatures.

Most of the captions are written by "our friends in the nursing profession," while the photographs were captured by Walter Chandoha, "a photographer who specializes in cats."

The black and white booklet - which apparently saw hundreds of thousands of printings throughout the 50s - is around 20 pages long. I've shared a few scans here, and if there's interest, I'll post the rest!