Is there a doctor in the house?

[Tallone]

Last Friday morning I went to a family-run estate sale. I was a little skeptical after the last such event I attended. Good thing I went because this one was much better! This was apparently a doctor's estate and the family was practically giving things away. My favorite pick are the figurines below. I paid $2 each for them:



These were on a shelf just inside the door and people (including myself) were walking right by them probably because their eyes were fixed on the stuff laid out on tables inside. I didn't notice them until I came back to the door where they checking people out. They are hand-carved in Austria and sell for $20 - $60 each on ebay. These clearly have some age to them and whoever carved them was a real craftsman. The detail is fantastic. Each figure represents a different medical specialty. I particularly like the Pathologist. He is the guy hugging the casket!

Next up are some antique medical books. I paid $1 each for them.



Then there was this old medical bag. Paid $5 for it.



My daughter is currently in medical school so I think I am going to give her one of the figurines, one of the books, and the bag for Christmas.

Finally, there was the item below. I paid $2 for it.



I am not quite sure what to make of this. My first thought was a powder horn but then I saw the metal tip. I thought it might be an ear horn but the metal tip looks more like a trumpet mouthpiece so I guess it is sort of a bugle. It definitely looks like it is made of animal horn. I would be interested to hear what others think about this piece and what the most accurate description would be.

 

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[Dirt Devil]

Looks like a very old hunting horn. Nice Finds!

 

[yelnif]

Hello Tallone, Your old blowing horn is a beauty. The 'crackling' on the lower portion of the large open end was caused from the horn being hung above a heat source- like a fire place/ mantle. Some of these old horns are worth a fair amount- provenance and decoration ( usually in the form of scrimshaw work) increase value. You might want to get more info about the doctor from his relatives to add to the provenance- and write it down? Hunters often used blowing horns to communicate with their dogs and other hunters when in the field. No two hunting horns sounded alike, so the dogs knew when their owners were "talking" to them. Pick it up and blow it like a trumpet- most have a sweet sound. HH yelnif

 

[Generic_Lad]

How old are the medical books?

 

[Tallone]

Here are the publication dates (left to right in the photo above): 1898, 1907, 1889, 1930. It is difficult to put a value on these. Prices for old medical books on ebay vary widely due, I'm sure, to differences in age, condition, and subject matter. None of these specific volumes have sold recently on ebay. All of these books are in quite good condition with the exception of Osler's Modern Medicine (2nd from left) which has some cover damage and a few loose sheets. I particularly like the the Ashhurst text because of the full leather covers and spine.

BTW, my daughter came home on break from medical school for the holidays. I showed her these books except for the one I was going to give her for Christmas. I wasn't sure she was all that interested in old stuff like this. Turns out she LOVES them and wants a collection of old medical stuff for her office when she becomes a practicing physician. So, I may wind up giving them all to her.

It also looks like I won't be putting the figurines up on ebay either. I was going to give my daughter the Orthopedist (2nd from right in the first picture above) as that is the specialty she hopes to get into. But... last night I showed these to my mother (who is well up in years and may not be with us much longer) and she wants to buy them all from me and make one of these an annual gift to my daughter from her - even after she is gone. I thought that was a very sweet idea, so these charming little figurines are now destined to become a part of another physician's personal effects. I hope the original owner would be happy to know that.