Frederick Haslam Brooklyn NY scalpel w/unique sheath

[knife7knut]

Came across this one at an antique shop the other day.Thought they might have misspelled the name Hassam which is an old Boston cutler from the 1850's.A little research turhed up the Haslam name as being a maker of surgical instruments for the military in WWI.The patent date on the sheath is May 1918 but I think this piece is from a later time;maybe as late as the 1950's.Whatever the case it was well worth the $2 I paid for it.

[Quick Steel]

K7K

Quite an unusual find. A portion of the sheath looks as tho it might be metallic. ???

[knife7knut]

K7K

Quite an unusual find. A portion of the sheath looks as tho it might be metallic. ???

The sheath appears to be a very thin piece of folded stainless steel. Not quite sure why they would make a sheath for a scalpel unless it was to be carried loose or in the pocket.

[kootenay joe]

I think the sheath is to protect the edge as this is not a single use instrument. After use it would be washed by hand in hot soapy water and then sterilized likely in a bath of some liquid and the metal sheath would also have been sterilized. Place scalpel in sheath and then store it wherever and blade edge is not touching anything that might blunt it.
I base this on procedures i saw in hospitals 40 years ago. This scalpel is likely older than that so the details might not be exactly right.
Basically, a scalpel is no good if not very sharp. The metal cover over the blade (aka "sheath") was to protect blade edge.
kj

[knife7knut]

I think the sheath is to protect the edge as this is not a single use instrument. After use it would be washed by hand in hot soapy water and then sterilized likely in a bath of some liquid and the metal sheath would also have been sterilized. Place scalpel in sheath and then store it wherever and blade edge is not touching anything that might blunt it.
I base this on procedures i saw in hospitals 40 years ago. This scalpel is likely older than that so the details might not be exactly right.
Basically, a scalpel is no good if not very sharp. The metal cover over the blade (aka "sheath") was to protect blade edge.
kj

I would agree that the purpose is to protect the edge but this is the first one I have ever seen with such a device.As far as I know when surgical instruments are sterilized in an autoclave(or whatever they use)they are set in separately;and when stored are usually in a pack similar to a knife storage roll. I have quite a few surgical instruments and that has been my observation.
As for it's age;probably a little older but unlikely prior to about 1870 or so which was when they started making instruments of all metal construction just so they could be sterilized.I have earlier examples;both fixed and folding,that have ebony or tortoise shell handles.

[kootenay joe]

Don't always put them in a roll. Smaller 'trays' are made up for ER use or in a Procedure Room; suture tray, minor surgery tray, etc. Suture tray is smallest but still might have one scalpel in it. Each tray has a small assortment of instruments (tools) that are commonly needed for different situations. I have only ever seen these with disposable scalpels but early they would have had 'fixed blade scalpels' and something must have been used to protect the blade.
kj

[knife7knut]

Here is a set I picked up at a yard sale awhile back.Guy had a whole bunch of medical instruments but they were out of my field of collecting. Bought this because of the LF&C 1918 marking. Possibly military(their trench dagger held similar markings) the leather bag has a zipper on it and holds the three other pieces as well. I won't say what it is used for kj;if you're as familiar with medical instruments as I think you are you already know.
I also included a couple of pics of other medical items I have(the Gillette pieces are craft knives).Not sure what the scissors,razor,and other items are used for;looks like an early field kit.