Sherman's Influenza Bacterial Vaccine 38

Object Details

G.H. Sherman, M.D., Inc., Bacteriological Laboratories

Description (Brief): During the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 the best medical minds in the country were focused on the problem of discovering the cause of the flu and how to prevent it — and they failed. Sherman’s Vaccine was developed in response to the pandemic. Essentially it was a “stew” of numerous bacterial strains (“influenza-bacillus-pneumococcus-streptococcus-staphylococcus-micrococcus-catarrhalis vaccine”), including that of the “influenza bacillus,” which had been identified in the 1890’s as the probable cause of influenza. The bacillus resisted attempts to completely prove or disprove its essential role in the disease and so remained for a long time our “best guess.” The human influenza virus was not isolated until 1933; this sample of Sherman’s Vaccine dates to 1937.
Description: This object is one of over 700 items from Glaser’s Drug Store of Sayre, Pennsylvania. In 1921, Simon Glaser (1860-1936), an immigrant from Russian Poland, established the drug store at 121 West Packer Avenue in Sayre, PA. His son, Sidney Glaser (1899-1992), soon joined him in the business and continued to operate the store until 1961. After retiring, Sidney Glaser retained thousands of products dating from the 1920s – 1960s, including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal care products, and vitamins, and donated many of them to the Smithsonian in 1985.
Location: Currently not on view

Object Name: biological preparations; biological; vaccine, influenza, bacterial
Other Terms: Biological, Box of; Pharmaceutical; Vaccine

Physical Description: influenza bacillus 200,000,000 (drug active ingredients); staphylococcus aureus (drug active ingredients); staphylococcus albus (drug active ingredients); micrococcus catarrhalis (drug active ingredients); pneumococcus (drug active ingredients); Streptococcus (drug active ingredients)
Measurements: overall: 3.7 cm x 6.9 cm x 3.8 cm; 1 7/16 in x 2 11/16 in x 1 1/2 in; overall: 1 1/2 in x 2 3/4 in x 1 1/2 in; 3.81 cm x 6.985 cm x 3.81 cm

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Medicine; The Antibody Initiative; Health & Medicine; Antibody Initiative: Influenza

National Museum of American History

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-271c-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa