Dr. Ralph and Mrs. Olga Crawford Canadian Dental Collection
Category
Dental
Classification
Dental
Accession Number
010020102
Description
Dental x-ray timer with alarm; round silver metal clock with two small feet at front; yellow metal back with knobs to set timer and clock; clear glass pane at front covers white paper face printed with black ink; face has minutes from 1-10 going counter-clockwise on outer circle and time from 0-2 h…
Dental x-ray timer with alarm; round silver metal clock with two small feet at front; yellow metal back with knobs to set timer and clock; clear glass pane at front covers white paper face printed with black ink; face has minutes from 1-10 going counter-clockwise on outer circle and time from 0-2 hours in 1/4 hour intervals on inner circle; two black metal arrows point to the two circles; top of timer has round silver metal piece that rings when alarm goes off; small round metal handle at top
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Transfer from the Dental Canada Fund; previously housed in the Dentistry Canada Museum (Ottawa).
Printed on front: "MINUTE CIRCLE // HOUR CIRCLE // INTERVAL TIMER // VICTOR X-RAY CORPORATION // CHICAGO, ILL."; engraved on back: "ALARM // HAND SET // TIME KEY"
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-C6-3
Temporary Location
On display "Doctor's Treatment Room c1930" at Museum of Health Care 20 Feb 2016.
Dimension Notes
Length 12.5 cm x Width 9.0 cm x Depth 5.0 cm
Condition Remarks
Metal very tarnished all over; glass pane loose; legs covered in black electrical tape
Copy Type
Original
Reference Types
Internet
Reference Comments
"Gendex Dental Systems" website; 010.020.034
Research Facts
Dr Ralph and Mrs Olga Crawford donated their extensive Canadian dental collection to the DCF to create the museum in 1997; further donations were received while Dr Crawford was Curator Emeritus at the Dental Canada Museum until its closure in 2008; this item was donated by Joan Burbank from Victoria, British Columbia; the Victor Electric Corporation began making x-ray machines in 1896; they became the Victor X-Ray Corporation in 1920, were acquired by General Electric in 1926, and by 1930 the company was renamed the General Electric X-Ray Corporation; this clock is intriguing due to the fact that it times minutes and hours, its smallest interval being 1/4 of a minute; while exposure times were slower than the present day during the 1920s, x-rays only took between 2-10 seconds, depending on the film and the tooth, and most x-ray units had timers attached; this was perhaps a timer for developing x-ray film