Antique H.O. Penfield & Co. Philadelphia Truss Pad, Pink Hard Rubber Hernia Appliance, c. 1900

A hernia truss pad stamped H.O. PENFIELD & CO. MANUF'RS, PHILA., the pink molded rubber face backed by its steel spring plate. Trusses were the standard non-surgical management of hernia through the 19th and early 20th centuries, fitted by surgical instrument houses and drug stores alike. A wonderfully strange object with a clear American maker's mark.