This century-old dental catalog from the Buckeye Dental Supply Co. is my per­sonal equivalent of the Dead Sea Scrolls. (If any readers/archaeologists are in To­ledo, I would love to know if the old Ohio Building still stands.) But rather than of­fering exceptional insight into antiquity, this catalog provides exceptional insight into the early years of dentistry.

Larry Cohen, Chairman and Chief Customer Advocate

Let’s go back 100 years: A dentist could purchase an intri cately carved, sol­id-oak dental cabinet for $70, while an oak roll-top would run $65. Waiting-room chairs – made of oak, of course – cost $13.50 a pop. As for the operatory, $190 would get you a state-of-the-art Ritter pump chair, complete with leather seat and ball-and-socket head rest.

That furniture and dental chair were quality products and sturdily construct­ed – built to last! One glaring exception, however, was the $3 forceps pictured above. These were made of chrome-plated steel – and when the chrome peeled off (and it did soon enough), the rust began in earnest. But then, how much could pa­tients have expected when extractions ran 50 cents a tooth?