The Observer, September 23, 2005
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 4
Contraception made fun
When do you think the first contraceptive was used? What resourceful Casanova came up with the whole concept? Many people may think that the concept of birth control is something relatively new, a product of industrialization's population boom, conceived in the last two or three centuries. A visit to the History of Contraception Museum would quickly persuade otherwise; located on the third floor of the Allen Memorial Medical Library, this collection of sometimes strange artifacts proves that for almost as long as humans have been doing the nasty, we've also been pondering the consequences.
The History of Contraception exhibit, assembled over the course of the last 40 or so years by Percy Skuy, the former president of Ortho-McNeil (and apparently a passionate birth control artifact collector), is now a permanent feature of the Dittrick Medical History Center. Housed rather unceremoniously in a series of wooden cases in a hallway of offices, the artifacts that make up this exhibit range from curious to laughable to shudder-inducing. The sections on vaginal fumigation (a process involving introducing steam from live, hot coals into the vagina by way of a very unpleasant-looking kettle) and ingestion of dried-beaver-testicle tea were particularly educational. Some of the less shocking artifacts include a surprisingly wide variety of intrauterine devices, ancient (and not so ancient) international condoms, including one made out of alligator skin for the warrior in you, hundred-year-old cervical caps and much, much more. If you never got "the talk" from your adult authority figure of choice, a visit to this exhibit might more than compensate.
In addition to the world's largest ancient pharmacy, the Dittrick Medical History Center is also currently featuring an exhibit on general early medical practices, not just the ones relating to gettin' jiggy. Some parts of this exhibit, especially the large display of surgical instruments and obstetric forceps, reminded me of a medieval torture museum I visited in Austria, only minus the live demonstrators. Others were provided some very valuable information on quack doctors, early anesthetics that contained more alcohol and opiates than the average crack house, and funny hairstyles of the 1800s.
Anyone even remotely interested in medicine, birth control, or really big knives would do well to take a trip up to the Dittrick Memorial Medical Center. The exhibits, if not some of the cooler individual artifacts (read: dried beaver testicles), are sure to shock and awe you into realizing how far modern medicine has come. This fascinating and occasionally horrifying display can be viewed between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is definitely worth popping over to see between classes, if only for conversational shock value. And hey, you just might learn some tricks yourself.
