Two pheasants grace the obverse (right) of this dental trade card from Drs. Marcus and Gledhill of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sadly, both of these dentists and even their dental partnership were all short lived. The Marcus–Gledhill partnership was only advertised for a single year, in the 1889 directory for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in England, the senior dental partner, Dr. Thomas C. Gledhill (1866 to 1900), earned his D.D.S. in 1886 at the Philadelphia Dental College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, he would succumb to tuberculosis by the age of 34 years. Born in Paris, France, to an Austrian father and Romanian mother, Dr. Herman D. Marcus (1870 to 1910) immigrated to the United States in 1884 before advertising himself in 1889 as the dental partner fluent in French, German, English, “and several other languages.” After abandoning his senior dental partner, Dr. Marcus earned his M.D. in 1891 from the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By June 1910, after moving to Atlantic City, New Jersey, the 40-year-old Dr. Marcus committed suicide with cyanide. Although both dentists were short lived personally, their brief Marcus–Gledhill dental partnership administered laughing “gas” (left), a general anesthetic in use from 1844 to this day. This trade card is part of the Ben Z. Swanson Collection of the Wood Library-Museum. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
Two pheasants grace the obverse (right) of this dental trade card from Drs. Marcus and Gledhill of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sadly, both of these dentists and even their dental partnership were all short lived. The Marcus–Gledhill partnership was only advertised for a single year, in the 1889 directory for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Born in England, the senior dental partner, Dr. Thomas C. Gledhill (1866 to 1900), earned his D.D.S. in 1886 at the Philadelphia Dental College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, he would succumb to tuberculosis by the age of 34 years. Born in Paris, France, to an Austrian father and Romanian mother, Dr. Herman D. Marcus (1870 to 1910) immigrated to the United States in 1884 before advertising himself in 1889 as the dental partner fluent in French, German, English, “and several other languages.” After abandoning his senior dental partner, Dr. Marcus earned his M.D. in 1891 from the Medico-Chirurgical College of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By June 1910, after moving to Atlantic City, New Jersey, the 40-year-old Dr. Marcus committed suicide with cyanide. Although both dentists were short lived personally, their brief Marcus–Gledhill dental partnership administered laughing “gas” (left), a general anesthetic in use from 1844 to this day. This trade card is part of the Ben Z. Swanson Collection of the Wood Library-Museum. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
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.
