Artifact of the Month

Artifact 968.1937

This doctor’s bag belonged to Dr. Renfred Eastlake Doidge and was used from 1897 until his death in 1931. Dr, Doidge practiced medicine in Perry. The bag is uniquely made of alligator skin with the scales and lumps forming patterns on the bag. His family gave the bag to Forest Park Museum in 1968.

This bag was designed to store medicines and comes with two removable leather cases that are fitted to hold small vials of remedies. These remedies and bottled medicines fit into one side of the bag, the other compartment is large and open for other medical supplies. This side, shown in the photo, holds an ebony horn to a stethoscope, a can of salve, metal earpieces, and several leather cases holding remedies, lozenges and vials of medicines used for injections.

The bag is part of our collection of late 1800’s to early 1900’s medical artifacts that came to us from Dr. Doidge and Dr. Royer, both of Perry. The collection is on display at the Forest Park Museum, in Baldwin Hall.