Wellcome Collection

21/09/2023

This is one artist's interpretation of Alzheimer's disease.

This piece was created shortly after 'Mama', the artist's grandmother, moved to a nursing home after her Alzheimer's disease progressed to a stage where could no longer look after herself.

"She lost a lot of weight, and a broad, strong, matriarch became a feeble, bird-like woman. Yet however small her frame became, her hands remained large and strong and capable."

The hand, here a strong tangible image, represents the way the body can settle and remain hardy, even when the mind has become chaotic.

The maps breaking up the lines of the hand further represent the fragmentation of one's character, particularly in the way Alzheimer's interrupts neurological pathways in the brain, disrupting and even tearing up, knowledge, thoughts and memories.

[Alt text: We're looking an artwork made up of maps that look like they've been cut up and glued back on like a collage – none of the countries line up the way they should, and they've been patch worked together with missing gaps. Overlaid on top of this montage is a hand. The nails have ridges on them, and the skin has a slightly wrinkled texture, but hand itself looks relaxed and steady.]

Credit: Alzheimer's disease, artwork. Florence Winterflood. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

20/09/2023

This beard measured 17-feet and 6 inches long. Even after 96 years after being lopped off, it still holds the Guinness Record for the world's longest beard 🧔

The beard's owner was Hans Langseth (1846 – 1927), a Norwegian man who immigrated to the US and eventually settled in North Dakota, where this picture was taken.

He started growing his beard when he was 19 for a local beard-growing competition. And after it ended, he just kept going.

The beard varies in colour – the older, darker-coloured parts were from his youthful past, whereas the yellowed sections were grown in Langseth's older years. If you look closely, you can see wheat kernels flecked throughout the beard – from harvests on the farm where he lived as a young man.

In addition to using it as a skipping rope, Langseth would apparently occasionally wrap his beard around a corn-on-a-cob, and keep both tucked into a pouch he hung around his neck or his pocket.

[Alt text: Sepia image of a young girl about to skip rope. At first glance, it seems normal enough. But on closer inspection, the skipping rope is in fact a man's beard, with one 'end' attached to his face and the other end held by a woman. A man in a suit looks on with scepticism.]

Credit: A girl about to skip using a rope made out of a 17-foot-long beard, belonging to Hans Langseth of North Dakota. Photograph, 192-. Wellcome Collection. In copyright

18/09/2023

If you’re up to speed with current affairs, it can sometimes feel all doom and gloom out there.

But what *might* bring some comfort is that people from many other periods in history felt the same way too.

This painting depicts a futuristic dystopia from the perspective of someone living in the 1800s – someone who apparently feared that mass education and intellectual pursuits would lead to the end times.

There’s a lot going on in this picture, so strap yourselves in for the alt text.

[Alt text: (Clockwise from top right) In the top-right quadrant of this painting, in the far distance, we see a hot air balloon crashing into the moon. Against this backdrop of misguided space exploration, there is an apple seller sitting reading Byron’s poems, too busy to notice that a boy is stealing her produce. There’s a butcher and a dustman sitting on the pavement playing chess, while a dog runs off with what looks like a giant pork chop. A girl is sinking in the road, which has essentially become a bog. Meanwhile, the hats being sold in the millinery have become so large and elaborate that the patrons need to winched up on an escalator through the window to view the comically oversized hats.]

Credit: A futuristic vision: technology is over-sophisticated, and the masses devote themselves to intellectual pursuits, while the basic needs of society are neglected. Coloured etching by W. Heath, 1828, after F.A. Wellcome Collection.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/zkumm8bs/items

15/09/2023

Imagine going into an amputation where the saw-maker had spent more time decorating the saw, than considering how it would be used... 😬

That would have been the case if your surgeon whipped out this amputation saw back in the 1500s.

The saw is 50cm long, yet the blade is barely half of the total length. Such ornate designs declined in the 1600s as the curves and frills could catch on soft tissue during surgery, causing the patient even more pain.

These decorative features also provided a good environment in which germs could thrive, and the ornate handles were often uncomfortable for the surgeon to use as the saw had to be gripped tightly to ensure a precise amputation.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/qymja7gy

Credit: Amputation saw, Europe, 1501-1600. Science Museum, London.

13/09/2023

In 1948, the headlines read ‘Free For All’ as the birth of the NHS pioneered a model of healthcare based on justice, dignity and care for everyone. So how has it come to offer such poor service for patients today?

Healthcare professionals in the NHS continue to work under immense pressure, despite chronic underfunding, near-zero capital investment, negligent workforce planning, political infighting and a drift towards privatisation.

The health service’s ‘new normal’ is a permanent state of crisis. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

FREE FOR ALL is a love letter to an institution that has never been perfect, but which for seventy-five years has transformed the lives and health of millions – paid for by everybody, for everybody. With a rare and deeply felt eloquence, GP and bestselling author Dr Gavin Francis guides us through its inner workings – and illuminates how and why it can be saved.

[Alt text: We're looking at the front cover of a book by Dr Gavin Francis. The title reads: Free For All – Why the NHS is Worth Saving. The artwork depicts various blue hands reaching in from the edges of the cover.]

Click the link below to read the book extract.

wellcome.info/Why-the-NHS-is-worth-saving-extract

11/09/2023

Artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy are two friends whose collaborative work interrogates ingrained ideas about race and genetic science 🔬

This Friday, they'll sit down with writer-historian Subhadra Das, genetic counsellor Sasha Henriques and British Nigerian writer Yomi Sode to discuss their most recent work '_GOD_MODE_’ and how it addresses the legacies of scientific racism and eugenics.

Find out more and book tickets:

Hear artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy talk about their work, ‘_GOD_MODE_’, and the legacies of scientific racism and eugenics.

08/09/2023

Lest there was any confusion 💧

[Alt text: a poster showing a beach ball with a message that reads: "You won't get AIDS from a public pool".]

Credit: A ball with a message indicating that AIDS is not transmitted in public swimming pools; a poster from the America responds to Aids advertising campaign. Colour lithograph. Wellcome Collection.

07/09/2023

Air is heavy stuff. You can't see it, but its weight would literally crush you if your body didn’t also contain air.

Let that sink in for a sec...

In 2022, artist set out to show the crushing weight of air with these concrete blocks. The blocks represented the exact weight of all the air in our upstairs exhibition space, with adjustments for altitude, humidity and warmth.



[Alt text: A photograph from our 2022 exhibition ‘In the Air‘. The focal point is a brick structure, neatly lined in 6 alternating rows (however, the top row only has three bricks). These bricks are displayed on a white plinth and the background is a light purple.]

Image: A Roomful of Air. 2022, David Rickard. © Courtesy of the artist and Copperfield London.

06/09/2023

Suns out bums out 🍑

An arty reminder that today's the day to get your kit off and go for a dip 💦

[Alt text: a postcard reproduction of Henry Scott Tuke's "Ruby, Gold and Malachite". It's a blissful image showing three boys bobbing on a boat in the sunshine. Their friends are enjoying the iridescent green water – one slides into the water, another is fully submerged and swimming away, while a third leans easily against the bow of the boat.]

Credit: "Ruby, gold and malachite" by H.S. Tuke. Colour process print, 196-.

05/09/2023

This photo is of the Chocolate Milk Mommies, a peer support group in Alabama for Black women who breastfeed.

The women are dressed in black gowns and gold jewellery, sitting outside in nature on rocks and boulders with crowns perched on their heads, breastfeeding with their babies cradled in their laps. They look regal and defiant.

In our exhibition, Milk, we explore how scientific developments have shaped experiences of parenthood, and the multiple different ways this has affected parents' experiences of infant feeding.

If you want to drop in, you'd better be quick – Milk closes on 10 September.

Chocolate Milk Goddesses, photograph, 2017. Courtesy of Lakisha Cohill.

04/09/2023

What you see > What Antony Gormley sees

🙃

[Alt text: The first photo is a shot of an Antony Gormley statue from the perspective of someone standing behind our lobby's spiral staircase. His feet are glued onto the roof of the entrance and is hanging out upside down. The second photo in this carousel flips the first image upside down, showing the world from the statue's perspective where he's the right way up and everything else is topsy-turvy.]

01/09/2023

Can anyone else tell us what's so September-y about this image depicting the month of September? 🤔

[Alt text: A mostly naked man standing with his dingle-dongle dangling, and a cape hanging off one shoulder and dramatically billowing around in the wind. He is holding a lizard by its tail in one hand and a bowl of impaled fruit in the other.]

Credit: A naked man is holding a bowl with fruit on spikes in his left hand while dropping a lizard into one of the two amphorae beside him; representing the month September. Engraving. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pd9q5egs

30/08/2023

This painting is part of a series of 9 watercolours depicting the death and decay of a noblewoman.

These types of images are called kusōzu, and are linked to Buddhist ideas of impermanence. They show the various stages of bodily decomposition to emphasise the transient nature of our existence.

The woman featured in this particular painting is thought to be a famous 9th century poet called Ono no Komachi. She is seated indoors at a low red table, wearing a kimono with a scroll in her left hand, upon which she has written a farewell poem. She has a pallid complexion and she looks preoccupied.

Subsequent photos show her body in various stages of decay: one immediately after her death with a lady and gentleman in attendance; and the other six images showing her body decomposing outdoors until she is just a heap of bones.

The final painting of this series shows a stupa – a Buddhist grave and symbol of the Buddha.

You can see the rest of this series of paintings in between in the link below. TW/ Watercolour paintings of decaying corpses.

Credit: Credit: Kusōzu: the death of a noble lady and the decay of her body. Watercolours. Wellcome Collection.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/m4pnfgjd

25/08/2023

After-work drinks, but you're still in your uniform.

Credit: Five young women and a young man, posing in acrobats' costume, in a photographic studio. Hana Studios Ltd. Date: [between 1900 and 1906]. Reference: 539735i Part of: The Fallaize Collection.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/gj6kywqe/items

24/08/2023

How have scientific developments shaped experiences of parenthood?

The idea that women need scientific advice to care for and feed their infants took hold in Europe and North America in the late 19th century. This scientific approach brought numerous benefits to maternal and child health. But it also reshaped parenting in significant ways.

Within the last century, feeding schedules, baby formula and weight-gain charts have become normal features of parents' and caregivers' experiences of infant feeding. These standards – along with the perceived ‘failure’ to meet them – still persist to this day, and can create feelings of guilt and shame in the early months.

We explore this question in more depth in our exhibition, Milk – which ends in just over three weeks ⏰

[Alt text 1: The first image shows a poster of a angelic, cupid-like toddler, apparently floating on a cloud. The text reads: “Let the toddler’s first steps lead to the welfare centre.” It continues: “Get expert attention and advice before and after baby comes; advice on feeding-milk or special food; trained nurses who like children; do what the doctor tells you.”]

[Alt text 2: The second image in this carousel looks at a baby care chart from between 1985 – 1995. The information provided gives mothers a sense of what to expect within their baby’s first few months of development, including feeding, teething and bathing. It also advises mothers to take their baby to the clinic for regular check-ups and weigh-ins. Adverts like these subtly reinforce the idea that scientific advice is a necessary part of new motherhood.]

Image credit 1: Let the toddler's first steps -lead to the welfare centre : get expert attention and advice before and after baby comes, advice on feeding -milk or special food, trained nurses who like children, do what the doctor tells you : Norfolk / Ministry of Health. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark

Image credit 2: Babycare Chart, CPC Ltd, Around 1985-95, Poster, Wellcome Collection, EPH++80:4

23/08/2023

Syphilis and other venereal diseases used to be personified as women who were out to tempt their male victims.

This poster – an ad from 1900 for a syphilitic sanatorium – depicts a frail woman in a shawl holding out a flower in one hand and grasping a snake behind her back 🐍

The sickly green and mustard yellow colours underline the mood towards s*xually transmitted diseases at the time (and also towards women, in particular s*x workers).

Syphilis, which was originally known as ‘the pox’, first appeared in Europe at the end of the 1400s.

The name syphilis is derived from a Latin poem in which a sinner is punished for betraying the god Jupiter. When it became apparent that syphilis could be transmitted through s*xual contact, it was interpreted as divine punishment for promiscuity.

Credit: Advertisement for Dr Abreu’s sanatorium for syphilitics in Barcelona, c. 1900, Colour lithograph, Ramón Casas (1866–1932). © Wellcome Collection. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

22/08/2023

In a pinch, you can use shells like these as an ear trumpet 🐚

These whelk shells, which are found on beaches all across Britain, act as a very economical hearing aid. The tip is inserted into the ear canal, and the shape of the shell “catches” the sound and concentrates it into the eardrum.

We’re not sure exactly how effective it was as a hearing aid, but it was certainly a much cheaper solution to a common problem and one that’s pretty easy to come by.

[Alt text: We’re looking at a photo of a whelk shell that has a plastic cover on the tip, designed for people to insert it comfortably into the ear canal. The shell is glossy, beige with strips of brown, and has a catalogue number on it written in what looks like permanent marker. The opening of the shell looks curiously ear shaped.]

Credit: Shell ear trumpet, Europe, Science Museum, London. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ss33mhpp

21/08/2023

Me before and after reading my emails.



[Alt text: We're looking at a lithograph of a young woman happily holding up a skull. She is a vision of youthful health and happiness – thick, voluminous hair cascading down her shoulders, rose-tinted cheeks, a wide smile and twinkling eyes. Meanwhile, the skull she's holding looks deader than dead.]

Credit: A young woman holding a skull in her hands; representing life and death. Colour lithograph. Wellcome Collection.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/f9gn5vaq

18/08/2023

Aren't we pretty ✨

Euston Road's best museum and library (shhh, no one tell )

[Alt text: A photo of us, Wellcome Collection. The shot shows the exterior of the museum building shrouded by some tree branches.]

17/08/2023

Ever heard of "government cheese"? 🧀

You might have come across it in Jay Z's F.U.T.W lyrics, or Kendrick Lamar's Money Tree. It's even made it into fashion – there's a trucker cap brand named after these 5-pound blocks of government-issued cheddar cheese.

In 1949, the US government started buying surplus milk in order to prop up the dairy industry. And by the 80s, they ended up having more cheese than they knew what to do with. At one point, 1.2 billion pounds of it – which is about the size of a small mountain 🗻

The stockpile had gotten too big. The cheese was starting to go off and the huge underground storage facilities ended up costing $1 million a day to run.

The problem got so bad, that at one point, a USDA official suggested, “probably the cheapest and most practical thing would be to dump it in the ocean.”

Instead, the US government decided to set up the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Programme, sending 30 million pounds of cheddar to welfare programmes. And lo and behold, a new pop culture icon was born.

While it may not be particularly well-known here in the UK, you know it's in the big leagues when Snoop Dogg, Jay Z and Kendrick Lamar have all rapped about it.

You can see this and over 100 other objects in our exhibition, Milk. But you'll have to be quick – it closes in a few weeks! 🏃‍♂️

[Alt text: A photo of a box of government cheese (minus the cheese) in a display case in our exhibition, Milk. The packaging is boxy and made out of cardboard which has stains and watermarks on it. There’s some print on it that reads: “Pasteurized process cheddar cheese. Donated by US Department of Agriculture. For school lunch, and other eligible programmes. Not to be sold or exchanged.”]

Image: Pasteurized process cheddar cheese box, packaging carton, United States Department of Agriculture, c.1980s-90s?

16/08/2023

If you lived in BC 1370, you may have used a toilet seat that looked like this 🚽

Is it just us, or does the margin for error look quite... slim?

[Alt text: This picture is actually of a glass fibre copy of a latrine seat from that period. It is essentially the thickness, texture and shape of a large porcelain tile with a butt-shaped groove carved out that is a bit horseshoe-shaped. Except, imagine if there was a two-finger-width distance between each side of the U.]

Credit: Glass fibre copy of a latrine seat, c 1370 BC. Front three quarter view, black background. Science Museum, London.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/q57hnpk7

15/08/2023

South Asia is an incredibly diverse stretch of the globe and one of the most varied places on earth for language and religion. One language everyone can speak, however, is food.

This painting depicts a couple making chapatis by hand with a large pile of them ever growing at their feet. The woman is multi-tasking as she’s also breast-feeding an infant.

Chapatis (also known as rotis) are simply made with wholemeal flour and water but feed millions daily. Originating in the Indian sub-continent, they have spread with the South Asian diaspora across the world 🌏

The image is a gouache painting by an Indian artist, likely from the 19th century.



Images reference: 582627i

[Alt text: On the left, seated on a chair, is a finely dressed man in green holding a sword. On the right a man and a woman make chapattis. The woman is breastfeeding a baby while doing so. Behind them is what looks like an oven.]

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/cybeucab

14/08/2023

In the 1800s, they sold soap using drawings of boxer dogs wearing hats and scarves.

Why they stopped doing this is beyond us 🐶

[Alt text: An illustration of a boxer dog with pretty long eyelashes, honey-gold eyes, and a sweet innocent look on its little doggy face. They're wearing a slightly battered top hat at a jaunty angle, and beneath their chin they've tied a handsome red neckerchief in an understated but very stylish tie knot. The name of the soap brand, "Soapine" is on the top-right corner of the advertising card.]

Credit: Soapine: for washing and cleaning everything, no matter what, Soapine works better than soap or anything else : use no other preparation with it ... / Kendall Manufacturing Company. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain Mark

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/dwka2btf

10/08/2023

Kimchi, kombucha, kefir – it’s fair to say that fermented foods are having a bit of a moment right now.

But for the Kalenjin tribe of Kenya, gourds like these have long been used to ferment milk to make mursik. To make it, gourds are lined with charcoal (which has antimicrobial properties) and then boiled milk is poured inside and allowed to ferment for at least three to five days.

It’s a vital part of life for the Kalenjin people – it is used as part of marriage ceremonies and is also synonymous with Kenyan athletics.

Sadly, global dairy regulators have historically misunderstood and under-valued these technologies. But developments in gut-health science have contributed to the recent resurgence – or perhaps, rediscovery – of microbiome-friendly foods.

Learn more about the history of milk at our eponymously named exhibition, Milk. It closes next month, so hurry 🏃‍♂️

[Alt text: A photo of a gourd that is used to make Mursik, a type of fermented milk drink that is similar to yoghurt. It is brown and shaped a bit like a really bottom-heavy butternut squash. It has a strap around the middle and is decorated with beads at the top.]

Small round milk gourd with beaded hide cap. Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. 1978.20.257.

09/08/2023

Dr William’s ‘Pink Pills’ were advertised as an iron rich tonic for the blood and nerves that could treat practically anything.

Anaemia, clinical depression, poor appetite, lack of energy, paralysis? All allegedly curable with a little pink tablet.

Pink Pills were advertised with the slogan “Pink Pills for Pale People” and if you'd been of a depressed or anxious disposition at the turn of the 20th century, then you possibly would have been sent home with some of this over-the-counter silliness.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/wqk6xcj8

Credit: Dr Williams' 'Pink Pills', London, England, 1850-1920. Science Museum, London.

08/08/2023

This is the only etching Van Gogh ever created. And it happens to be in our collection 💅

This etching once belonged to the man it depicts – Dr Paul-Ferdinand Gachet. After a year in asylum and the famous "ear incident", Van Gogh decided to see Dr Gachet for treatment who, at the time, was treating several star artists including Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

After meeting him, Van Gogh reportedly wrote to his sister saying, "I’ve found in Dr Gachet a ready-made friend and something like a new brother would be – so much do we resemble each other physically, and morally too. He’s very nervous and very bizarre himself.”

This etching was made in Dr Gachet's garden after an outdoor lunch in the courtyard, just a few weeks before Van Gogh's su***de. On 27 July 1890, the artist shot himself and was rushed to the doctor's care, but eventually died from the injury two days later.

At Van Gogh’s funeral, Gachet attempted to give a eulogy, but could barely speak through the tears, stating that Van Gogh was “an honest man and a great artist” with only two aims: humanity and art.

[Alt text: A reproduction of an etching made by Vincent Van Gogh. It depicts a man smoking a pipe in his garden. He wears a shirt, jacket and wasitcoat as well as a ring on his finger. His eyebrows are furrowed, and his expression faraway. Van Gogh later wrote to his friend describing this work as, "a portrait of Dr Gachet with the deeply sad expression of our time."]

Credit: Paul Ferdinand Gachet. Etching by V. van Gogh, 1890. Wellcome Collection. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

07/08/2023

Turning on the lights first thing in the morning and hearing that satisfying little crackle

💡✨

[Alt text: A photo of our warm and welcoming Reading Room. It's a large room, with a mezzanine floor above lined with rows of bookshelves. Down below, there are workspaces, artworks and comfy chairs.]

04/08/2023

It seems odd now, but cats used to be seen as pests 🐈

Louis Wain was instrumental in changing that perception with his charming illustrations of cats playing golf, drinking tea, wearing suits and going to the opera. Pictures like these really helped popularise the idea of cats as household pets.

But Wain's story wasn't as straightforward as eccentric cat illustrator. He also struggled with depression and anxiety.

Wain had a reputation for having a wild imagination but his mental health issues started to intensify during the 1920s when he spent hours locked in his room, writing about a group of spirits that filled him with electricity. He accused his sisters of conspiracy, maltreatment and theft, and in 1924, he was admitted to an asylum and diagnosed with schizophrenia.

If you'd like to know more about Louis Wain, click the link below to find our complete catalogue of his works, plus articles on Wain’s life 🧠

wellcome.info/Louis-Wain

Alt text: The first image is a marmalade cat and two blue cats, half-length, standing and holding orange-covered songbooks. They appear to be singing. The second image is three cats wearing top hats, waistcoats and suits, holding sticks or an umbrella, and performing on a green lawn with blue and grey bushes in the background. And the third image is a kitty-cat on a blue background painted in turquoise. The patterns of its fur are formed by white lines resembling gothic tracery.

Credits: 1) Three cats singing. Gouache by Louis Wain, 1925/1939. Wellcome Collection. 2) Three cats performing a song and dance act. Gouache by Louis Wain, 1925/1939. 3) A cat in "gothic" style. Gouache by Louis Wain, 1925/1939. Wellcome Collection.

03/08/2023

Do you know someone aged 14-19 who loves *free* films, snacks and hanging with their friends? Because throughout August, we’re holding 5 free screenings and events
👉 For young people
👉 Inspired by Genetic Automata, four films by Larry Achiampong and David Blandy

https://wellcomecollection.org/event-series/ZJsHDhAAACMAauzb

Catch up on some sci-fi classics and have the chance to meet filmmakers, writers and artists over a slice of pizza.

Have someone in mind? Tag them in the comments 👇

A series of science fiction movie screenings for 14-19-year-olds, linked to the themes of ‘Genetic Automata’. Take part in an activity, and join others for a discussion about how science, race and technology have shaped society and ourselves.

02/08/2023

Syphilis might have affected 1 in 10 before 50 in 1940. But we're confident none of them contracted it from a swimming pool.

For the avoidance of any doubt, syphilis is a s*xually transmitted infection (STI). If it's left untreated, it can seriously damage your heart, brain and nervous system.

The German physician Joseph Grunpeck (1473–1532) described syphilis as being “so cruel, so distressing, so appalling that until now nothing more terrible or disgusting has ever been known on this earth”.

Today syphilis is treated with antibiotics but it's not a thing of the past.

According to gov.uk, syphilis diagnoses in 2022 were the highest on record since 1948. So if you're feeling frisky this weekend, then don't forget to carry your condoms.

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/yc2p8ut8

01/08/2023

Jess Dobson's pink and fluffy breastmilk den deals in neon, tasselled chaos, peppered with lots of surrealism 🍸 💖

Figures are suspended from the ceiling pumping milk, while tasselled b***s spin, pens click into motion, milk whirrs in a fridge, and high-heeled table legs filled with ice cream clack on the floor.

It's overwhelming and fun, but it also lifts the bonnet on the politics of breastmilk, the labour of breastfeeding, its s*xualisation on the Internet, and how - when it comes to feeding your infant (or someone else...) the personal is always political ✊

A must-see in our Milk exhibition (but also a hard one to miss).

https://wellcome.info/milk

Credit: From the Collection: For What It’s Worth, 2023, Jess Dobkin. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

31/07/2023

117 years ago on 5 July 1906, a small child took a button used for lacing up leather boots and shoved it up their nose.

They got it so far up their nostril, it’s possible that this item may have been removed surgically. The doctor who performed the extraction, Dr Speirs, donated this button to us in 1956.

It now lives with our good friends at the Science Museum, who look after it as a historical record of one of many stupid reasons why you might have to rush your child to the hospital.

[Alt text: A photo of a spherical button affixed to a yellowing piece of paper. On it, someone has handwritten the means by which this item was obtained. “Removed from a child’s nose by Dr Speirs – 5/7/1906”]

Credit: Button surgically removed from a child's nose, United Kingdom. Science Museum, London. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

https://wellcomecollection.org/works/mtv58ra9

28/07/2023

Having s*x with one person doesn't always mean you're safe from STDs.

[Alt text: An illustration of lots of naked people linked together in the form of a family tree.

There's a sidebar with text that reads: "How many people did you say you'd slept with?"

At the bottom of the family tree, there is a couple holding hands. The woman answers, "Why, just the one."

The man, who looks like a deer in headlights, has four lines extending up from his head, connecting him with four women – people he has slept with.

Three of those four women have their own lines, connecting to a row of naked men, who have their own lines connecting to a line of women, ad infinitum.

The poster, which is admittedly quite heteronormative by today's standards, encourages people to practice "safer s*x every time".]

Credit: Numerous naked figures laid out in the form of a family tree; advertisement for safe s*x by Scottish Aids Monitor. Colour lithograph by J.P.Smith,1992. Date: 1992. Reference: 666920i.