Artificial Eye
date: label: Date made
content: 1943
label: Date made
content: 1943
label: Date made
content: 1943
label: associated dates
content: 1950 02 21 / 1950 02 21
name: label: maker
content: Dietz, Victor H.
label: maker
content: Wirtz, Milton S.
label: maker
content: Erph, Stanley F.
notes: label: Description
content: While working at the Valley Forge General Hospital during World War II, three Army dentists—Capt. Stanley F. Erpf, Maj. Victor H. Dietz, and Maj. Milton S. Wirtz—made plastic eyes and taught the technique to others. This is one of those eyes.
label: Description
content: Ref: “3 Army Dental Officers Find Way To Make Eyes of Plastic,” [Louisville] The Courier Journal (Jan. 1, 1945), p. 7.
label: Description
content: “Dentists Making Plastic Eyes For Blind Veterans,” Los Angeles Times (July 15, 1946), p. A1.
label: Description
content: “Plastic Eyes,” The Army Nurse 2 (June 1945): 9.
label: Description
content: Capt. Stanley F. Erpf, Maj. Victor H. Dietz, and Maj. Milton S. Wirtz, “Prosthesis of the Eye in Synthetic Resin,” Bulletin of the U.S. Army Medical Department (July 1945): 76-86.
label: Description
content: Victor H. Dietz, Stanley F. Erpf, and Milton S. Wirtz, “Artificial Eye,” U.S. Patent 2,497,872 (Feb. 21, 1950).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Phoenixville
label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Phoenixville
label: place made
content: United States: Pennsylvania, Phoenixville
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Dr. Milton S. Wirtz
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1991.0417.08
label: catalog number
content: 1991.0417.08
label: accession number
content: 1991.0417
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Artificial Eye
label: Object Name
content: eye, artificial
label: Object Name
content: prosthesis, model
label: Other Terms
content: Artificial Eye; Prostheses
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: acrylic resin (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rayon (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cellulose acetate (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paint, oil (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: blue (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: gray (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: molded (overall production method/technique)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 12 cm x 5 cm; 4 3/4 in x 1 15/16 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 3/4 in x 2 in x 2 5/8 in; 12.065 cm x 5.08 cm x 6.6675 cm