The Visible Woman Assembly Kit
name: label: maker
content: Renwal Products Company
notes: label: Description
content: This is an anatomical model of a woman, complete with removable parts. The kit includes a clear plastic body or shell, a "complete" skeleton, "all vital organs," and a round plastic display stand. The kit was designed as an educational tool to teach basic anatomy. The intructions explain how to assemble and disassemble the model. The "Visible Woman" was inspired by the success of another anatomical model for children, "The Visible Man." The kit includes a pamphlet, "Introduction to Anatomy," and the manufacturer's guarantee. This kit was never assembled.
label: Description
content: One of the more interesting features or non-features of this kit is the lack of genitalia. Manufacturers of anatomical models offered male and female models with and without sexual organs. Americans in the 19th century used phrases such as "after nature" and "organs of generation" to gently refer to reproductive organs. This practice continued well into the 20th century, when paper models and later plastic model kits produced for the general public lacked sexual organs.
label: Description
content: A note to parents in the lower left corner of the top of the box warned that the contents included the "Optional Feature: The Miracle of Creation." Separated from the other parts of the model in a brown box, the adapter kit for a 7-months pregnant female includes special instructions for assembling the eight additional parts, which include an expanded breast plate for the pregnant uterus, the small intestines, and the fetus.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: Place Made
content: United States: New York, Mineola
topic: label: Subject
content: Education
label: Subject
content: Birth Control/Contraception
label: Subject
content: Anatomy
label: Subject
content: Education
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Sputnik
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1998.0185.01
label: catalog number
content: 1998.0185.01
label: accession number
content: 1998.0185
objectType: label: Object Name
content: model, anatomical, female
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cardboard (box material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (part material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 41 cm x 33.4 cm x 7.5 cm; 16 1/8 in x 13 1/8 in x 2 15/16 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 7/8 in x 13 in x 16 in; 7.3025 cm x 33.02 cm x 40.64 cm