(Re-)Reading Medical Trade Catalogs: The Uses of Professional Advertising in British Medical Practice, 1870-1914

Claire Jones

(Re-)Reading Medical Trade Catalogs: The Uses of Professional Advertising in British Medical Practice, 1870-1914

Claire Jones

Nursing & Midwifery Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

9 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article explores how medical practitioners read, used, and experienced medical trade catalogs in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Britain. Reader responses to the catalog, a book-like publication promoting medical tools, appliances, and pharmaceuticals, have been chronically understudied, as have professional reading practices within medicine more generally. Yet, evidence suggests that clinicians frequently used the catalog and did so in three main ways: to order medical products, to acquire new information about these products, and to display their own produc: endorsements and product designs. The seemingly widespread nature of these practices demonstrates an individual and collective professional desire to improve medical practice and highlights the importance of studying professional reading practices in the cultural history of medicine.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	361-393
Number of pages	33
Journal	Bulletin of the History of Medicine
Volume	86
Issue number	3
Publication status	Published - 2012

Keywords

catalog
reading
consumption
innovation
advertising
practitioners
medical practice
BRITAIN
19TH-CENTURY
PHYSICIANS
SCIENCE

Cite this

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title = "(Re-)Reading Medical Trade Catalogs: The Uses of Professional Advertising in British Medical Practice, 1870-1914",

abstract = "This article explores how medical practitioners read, used, and experienced medical trade catalogs in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Britain. Reader responses to the catalog, a book-like publication promoting medical tools, appliances, and pharmaceuticals, have been chronically understudied, as have professional reading practices within medicine more generally. Yet, evidence suggests that clinicians frequently used the catalog and did so in three main ways: to order medical products, to acquire new information about these products, and to display their own produc: endorsements and product designs. The seemingly widespread nature of these practices demonstrates an individual and collective professional desire to improve medical practice and highlights the importance of studying professional reading practices in the cultural history of medicine.",

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author = "Claire Jones",

year = "2012",

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N2 - This article explores how medical practitioners read, used, and experienced medical trade catalogs in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Britain. Reader responses to the catalog, a book-like publication promoting medical tools, appliances, and pharmaceuticals, have been chronically understudied, as have professional reading practices within medicine more generally. Yet, evidence suggests that clinicians frequently used the catalog and did so in three main ways: to order medical products, to acquire new information about these products, and to display their own produc: endorsements and product designs. The seemingly widespread nature of these practices demonstrates an individual and collective professional desire to improve medical practice and highlights the importance of studying professional reading practices in the cultural history of medicine.

AB - This article explores how medical practitioners read, used, and experienced medical trade catalogs in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century Britain. Reader responses to the catalog, a book-like publication promoting medical tools, appliances, and pharmaceuticals, have been chronically understudied, as have professional reading practices within medicine more generally. Yet, evidence suggests that clinicians frequently used the catalog and did so in three main ways: to order medical products, to acquire new information about these products, and to display their own produc: endorsements and product designs. The seemingly widespread nature of these practices demonstrates an individual and collective professional desire to improve medical practice and highlights the importance of studying professional reading practices in the cultural history of medicine.

KW - catalog

KW - reading

KW - consumption

KW - innovation

KW - advertising

KW - practitioners

KW - medical practice

KW - BRITAIN

KW - 19TH-CENTURY

KW - PHYSICIANS

KW - SCIENCE

M3 - Article

SN - 0007-5140

VL - 86

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EP - 393

JO - Bulletin of the History of Medicine

JF - Bulletin of the History of Medicine

IS - 3

ER -

(Re-)Reading Medical Trade Catalogs: The Uses of Professional Advertising in British Medical Practice, 1870-1914

Abstract

Keywords

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