Companies that manufacture products for the general public often feel pressure to change their logos every four to ten years, in an effort to be "cool" and "with it" and "down with the peeps." For example, I see that corporate giant Kimberly-Clark not only updated its own logo, but also that of products like Depend adult diapers. Certainly got to keep those products "hep"!
But companies that manufacture to the trade, whatever trade, seem to be more concerned with establishing a reputation for accuracy and then not changing anything, neither name nor logo. A doctor's equipment is no different. For example:
Detecto scales have been around since 1900. The name sounds like that of a cheesy crime-solving robot from a sci-fi serial, but they're masters of detecting just one fact, and that is weight. Well, height too on their scales for humans, but a glance at their 1999-style Web site tells us that many of their scales are for the food-service industry. They weighed what went into me and then weighed me at the other end of the line. Naturally it is the instrument in the doctor's office I dread.
The Detecto logo has a cardinal on it because they were bought by Cardinal Scale in 1981, and I'm willing to bet the logo has not changed since. Proudly made in the USA.
I love the Baumanometer logo and the assurance that it is the "Blood Pressure Standard the World Over." That's the kind of Great we want America to have again -- a small outfit that makes something here and does it so damn well that everyone looks to them for quality.
Is it true? Well, W. A. Baum Co. has been making things since 1916 -- "clinical sphygmomanometers, stethoscopes and a full complement of blood pressure inflation system components." William A. Baum is said to have invented the Baumanometer as a more accurate means of taking blood pressure. And jolly good job, too.
They're based in Copiague, New York, a hamlet on the south shore of Long Island, near Amityville. Is that where they make their Baumanometers? Darned if I know. It doesn't say so on their site, so I have no idea. If it were me, and I were running a small outfit that made equipment that had to maintain its reputation for accuracy or perish, I would keep the factory close by and look inside it every day. I'll bet William A. Baum felt that way too.
KleenSpec doesn't have that old-fashioned iron-clad look or name, but more of a 1960s vibe, which isn't all bad. It says Science! in a modern germ-free way. As it turns out, the trademark KleenSpec goes back to at least 1956 (according to the US Patent and Trademark Office) and is the trade name used for disposable covers like these ear specula you see in the case here. KleenSpec is owned by this venerable firm:
WelchAllyn's logo definitely looks more modern, but USPTO says it also goes back to '56. The firm's name was trademarked in 1915, when Dr. Francis Welch and William Noah Allyn sold "the world's first hand-held, direct-illuminating ophthalmoscope". And what have you done lately?
WelchAllyn, the pride of Skaneateles Falls, New York (located southwest of Syracuse in the Finger Lakes region), still makes a lot of equipment with lights on it, as well as a large array of other medical equipment. Again, I was unable to ascertain where they make their stuff. I guess it's important to tell me where my Fruit of the Loom is made (Honduras) but not to tell my doctor where his electrocardiograph comes from. Why should he care? I'm sure they make fine sigmoidoscopes in Eritria, Guyana, and Kazakhstan.
WelchAllyn is actually owned by Hill-Rom, for what that's worth. (Hill-Rom could have been shorthand for a recent presidential race if things were a little different, huh?)
Looking around at equipment is interesting, for a while, but after the first half hour it gets a little dull. So does playing with the phone. What else is there to read in the exam room?
Um...
Maybe I could juggle the ear specula for a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment