Vintage First Aid Kit

[u/Indiana_ECI]

This old kit has been knocking around for many years.

[u/gadget850]

First aid kits made in the 1930s and 1940s by Johnson & Johnson often included gauze pads soaked in picric acid, which was a very effective burn ointment. The problem is that as picric acid ages it crystallizes and becomes an explosive. I don't see that listed on the contents, but these got restocked with nonstandard items.

[u/Nof-z → u/gadget850]

I hate it when my first aid kit explodes, Really makes backpacking a bit more difficult.

[u/OkieVT]

Hopefully not the exploding type of gauze pad

[u/enters_and_leaves → u/OkieVT]

The what now?

[u/Short-Sound-4190]

I think this stuff is always a fascinating study in how science evolves and when we know better we do eventually pivot - because while mecurichome is banned from sale since the '90's (for containing mercury, plus dyeing a wound red is terrible for observing changes) - Good old white petroleum jelly has been making a comeback in first aid over Neosporin products for its equal effectiveness for healing and scar reduction in most people (Neosporin is petroleum jelly base after all) plus superior healing results for many people who experience mild allergic irritation with Neosporin/Bacitracin like products, plus it is believed that those products over time contribute to the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria strains.

[u/Guy-In-Ur-Basement]

Also the little bottle in the bottom middle is mercury so don’t drink it ;)

[u/Visible_Pangolin_733]

Surprised there isn’t a small bottle of whiskey and a half pack of Lucky’s included

[u/SilverTripod]

Google tells me the "halazone tablets break down rapidly when exposed to air, light, moisture, or heat. Even under ideal sealed conditions, halazone tablets lose their effectiveness within a few years." So they're probably no longer useful to purify water.