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On the Trail of the "Machine," Part 2: The Lady Vanishes

Last week, I discussed the unusual nature of William Smellie's "celebrated apparatus," or mechanized obstetrical phantom. Today, I will continue with part two, where I give contemporary physician Peter Camper's laudatory description--and discuss the woman-machine's vanishing act. --Brandy Schillace ________________________________________ After attending Smellie’s lectures, he described the “contraction of both the internal and external os, the generation of water in parturition and dilatation of the os uteri are so natural that hardly any difference is to be noticed between these, and those in natural women.” From Camper, a physician and surgeon certainly aware of actual anatomy, such a claim is...

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On the Trail of the Machine: William Smellie's "Celebrated Apparatus"

Last week, Dr. Edmonson (curator of the Dittrick Museum), provided a kind introduction to my work. Today, I am happy to continue the tale with part one of a two-part series.        This journey took place over the course of three years, on two continents--and through the wonderful collections of several museums, beginning with our own Dittrick. I give you the tale--of a trail. --Brandy Schillace, PhD _________________________________________  On the Trail of the Machine: William Smellie's "Celebrated Apparatus" What is the lifespan of a medical device? Most generally, the utility of any instrument determines its tenure in medical practice—and subsequent models evolve to replace their...

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Sometimes Cleveland beckons one home: [re]introducing Brandy Schillace

Bucking a long-term trend, some very talented and creative people are returning to Cleveland to ply their métier. In my own family, our daughter Patty found her way back into a rewarding museum career path after being away for five years.  I was pretty much resigned to her long-term absence from the Cleveland scene, when much to my pleasure, she secured a position in the education department of the Cleveland Museum of Art.  Since November 2010, she has been a part of the team fashioning Gallery One, a truly path-breaking endeavor to help visitors “learn how works of art are...

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Trojan Condom video to mark National Condom Month

Last September, I traveled to NYC to be taped for a promotional video for National Condom Month, produced for Trojan® Brand Condoms.  They brought in other folk from the Kinsey Archives, the Museum of Sex, and the American Social Hygiene Association (soon to shed that euphemism and become the American Sexual Health Association, keeping their initials ASHA).  Producer Marisa Biaggi deftly stitched, cut, edited, and refashioned our rambling parole into a snappy, informative, and yet lighthearted history of the condom.  Check it out on Cosmo.  Never thought I'd land there, but then again, I never imagined a career in a...

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