Sherman's Influenza Bacterial Vaccine 38
date: label: date made
content: ca 1937
label: product expiration date
content: 1937-07-09
name: label: maker
content: G.H. Sherman, M.D., Inc., Bacteriological Laboratories
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: 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.
label: Description
content: 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.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Michigan, Detroit
topic: label: Subject
content: Vaccines
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: The Antibody Initiative
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Antibody Initiative: Influenza
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Sidney Glaser
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1985.0481.184
label: catalog number
content: 1985.0481.184
label: accession number
content: 1985.0481
label: accession number
content: 1985.0481
objectType: label: Object Name
content: biological preparations
label: Object Name
content: biological
label: Object Name
content: vaccine, influenza, bacterial
label: Other Terms
content: Biological, Box of; Pharmaceutical; Vaccine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: influenza bacillus 200,000,000 (drug active ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: staphylococcus aureus (drug active ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: staphylococcus albus (drug active ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: micrococcus catarrhalis (drug active ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: pneumococcus (drug active ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: Streptococcus (drug active ingredients)
label: Measurements
content: 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
label: Measurements
content: 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