WWII era Medicine, full bottle, Mercurochrome, Merthiolate, Spirit of Ammonia, Iodine

[gchuggins]

Hello everyone! I;ve recently signed on and his is my first post. I collect WWII, Korean War and Vietnam era First Aid Kits and Medical Supplies. The bottles in the attached photo were in several First Aid and Medical Kits that I acquired, however, they are not original to those kits. I'd like to sell them to someone that collects vintage bottles of medicine but I need t know what the fair market value is for these items. All of the bottles, with the exception of 4, are full of the original contents and have never been used. Your assistance in pricing these is greatly appreciated. Regards, Gary

 

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[gchuggins]

This bottle of Merthiolate, H&H Company, is empty.
View attachment 1839495

This tin of Watkins Ointment is empty
View attachment 1839496

These Iodine vials are empty
View attachment 1839497

 

[ArfieBoy]

I can't help you with the items, but I want to welcome you to this forum from Oregon. Good Luck!

 

[Mackaydon]

As an ex-Medic from back in the day, I recall the original content in one or more of those bottles contained mercury and its sale was banned in the US over 20 years ago. You may wish to check that out.
Welcome to treasurenet !!
Don......

 

[gchuggins]

I'm a former Marine from back in the day (when we were involved in a shooting conflict over in Southeast Asia). One of my close friends was a green-side Navy Corpsman aka "Doc". (ps. there is no such think as an ex-Marine). Thanks for the heads up and welcome aboard. GC

 

[Mackaydon]

gch; thanks for your service.
Don...
(USAF '63-'69)

 

[Clay Diggins]

Merthiolate is just a commercial name for Thimerosal an organic mercury salt. It's currently used as a preservative in vaccines, cosmetics, tattoo inks, eye drops and contact lens solutions as well as a disinfectant commonly called Merthiolate. Merthiolate is still used in some surgeries in the U.S. The half life of this mercury compound in the body is 7 days so you don't want to chug it daily.

Mercurochrome is just a commercial name for Merbromin. It also contains a small amount of Mercury but isn't being produced today because Thimerosal is cheaper and more effective.

None of the mercury compounds have been "banned". Mercury use and sales are still legal without license in the United States. It would be difficult and silly to outlaw an element.

Using mercury as a drug for human consumption is another story. In 1998 the FDA reclassified these and several other commonly used mercury compounds from "generally recognized as safe" to "new drug". What that meant was it couldn't be sold across state lines until the new drug was tested and approved for use (again). Merthiolate (Thimerosal) has been tested and re-approved but no company has put in the time and money to get Mercurochrome (Merbromin) re-approved so even though it's "legal" no company has a license to sell it as a drug in the United States.

Essentially what limits mercury distribution in the United States is the possibility of lawsuits adding to the cost of distribution. As long as mercury is stored and shipped within best practice it's safe and pretty much immune to lawsuits. In other words mercury is legal but sometimes difficult to obtain in some forms because - lawyers.

I have no idea of the value of these bottles. There is a fairly robust market for older medical implements. It's pretty typical for collectors to empty the drugs from the bottles in their collections probably because - lawyers.

 

[GoldieLocks]

Yes I grew up in the 70-80's and used mercrome plenty.