Dr. I. W. Lyon's Tooth Powder
date: label: Date made
content: ca. 1879
name: label: maker
content: I. W. Lyon
notes: label: Description
content: Israel Whitney Lyon studied dentistry in New York, joined the gold rush to California, and returned east after the Civil War. He was selling I. W. Lyons’ Tooth Tablets by 1866, and I. W. Lyons’ Tooth Powder by 1874. He obtained a patent (#135,924) for “dentists’ stools” in 1873, and another (#445,067) for a “box for tooth powder” in 1891. After Dr. Lyon’s death in 1907, his sons continued the business.
label: Description
content: One inscription on this metal container reads “DR. I. W. LYON’S / PERFECT / TOOTH POWDER / Cleansing & Beautifying / THE TEETH / (Trade Mark) / AND PURIFYING THE BREATH / PRICE 25 CENTS.”
label: Description
content: The "Somers Bros / Brooklyn, N.Y. / Pat. Apl. 29 1879" inscription refers to Daniel M. Somers, a resident of Brooklyn who obtained a patent (#214,851) for “Improvement in Sheet Metal Boxes,” in 1879.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Sterling Drug Collection
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
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content: Beauty and Hygiene Products: Oral Care
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content: Beauty and Health
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of The History Factory
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2001.0314.629
label: accession number
content: 2001.0314
label: catalog number
content: 2001.0314.629
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Tooth Powder
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 9.3 cm x 4.2 cm; 3 11/16 in x 1 5/8 in