In the wake of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, a number of “Columbia” Dental Parlors sprung up around the United States. The trade card from one of these parlors depicts four frogs assisting a fifth in rowing a single scull (top). The back of the card locates the parlors in the “Trust Building” at “4th and Locust” Streets, which apparently references a former St. Louis Trust Company Building in St. Louis, Missouri. Also on the reverse of this card is a reference to anesthesia with “Frozen Air” (bottom). From ether spray to ethyl chloride (and eventually to Somnoform), a variety of vapocoolant sprays were used topically to provide chilling anesthesia for dental and minor surgical cases. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)

In the wake of the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, a number of “Columbia” Dental Parlors sprung up around the United States. The trade card from one of these parlors depicts four frogs assisting a fifth in rowing a single scull (top). The back of the card locates the parlors in the “Trust Building” at “4th and Locust” Streets, which apparently references a former St. Louis Trust Company Building in St. Louis, Missouri. Also on the reverse of this card is a reference to anesthesia with “Frozen Air” (bottom). From ether spray to ethyl chloride (and eventually to Somnoform), a variety of vapocoolant sprays were used topically to provide chilling anesthesia for dental and minor surgical cases. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)

Close modal

George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. UJYC@aol.com.