Max Wocher & Son Medical Saddlebags / SOLD

Scarce Victorian era medical saddlebags made between 1870-1900 by Max Wocher & Son of Cincinnati. Max Wocher, a German immigrant, began manufacturing surgical instruments in Cincinnati in 1837. The firm became the Max Wocher & Son Company in 1870 when he was joined by his son-in-law. The firm became a world-wide supplier of medical and dental instruments including wheelchairs, operation and examination tables, lamps and braces. The business included retail stores in Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. Each leather saddlebag contains an upper compartment covered by a large leather closure flap, and the inside of each flap is marked with the Max Wocher & Son paper label. Underneath the upper compartment of one bag is a lower storage box made from Moroccan leather covered cardboard that slides out from the side of the saddlebag and is secured in place by a leather closure strap. This box contains numerous medical vials with handwritten labels. The other saddlebag contains a cardboard medicine box covered in red felt. The saddlebags have moderate crazing throughout and are connected by a heavy brown leather strap that remains flexible and supple. Found in a Perryville, Kentucky estate. A scarce piece of 19th century medical equipment. 

Inventory Number: MED 189 / SOLD