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95/131/2 Disposable syringe, plastic / rubber, designed by D Harry Willis, made by M Charles Rothauser, Industrial Products Limited, Australia, 1951. Click to enlarge.
  • Image 1 of 2, 95/131/2 Disposable syringe, plastic / rubber, designed by D Harry Willis, made by M Charles Rothauser, Industrial Products Limited, Australia, 1951. Click to enlarge
  • Image 2 of 2, 95/131/2 Disposable syringe, plastic / rubber, designed by D Harry Willis, made by M Charles Rothauser, Industrial Products Limited, Australia, 1951. Click to enlarge

Disposable hypodermic syringe in container

By 1949 penicillin injections were being used to treat most bacterial infections, but penicillin tended to clog up glass syringes and make them hard to clean. To solve the problem, Austrian immigrant, Charles Rothauser created the world's first plastic, disposable hypodermic syringe at his Adelaide factory.

He made the first syringes in polyethylene. However, because polyethylene softens with heat, the syringes had to be chemically sterilised prior to packaging, which made them expensive. In …

Summary

Object No.

95/131/2

Object Statement

Disposable syringe, plastic / rubber, designed by D Harry Willis, made by M Charles Rothauser, Industrial Products Limited, Australia, 1951

Physical Description

Hypodermic syringe, disposable, clear polypropylene, d.Harry Willis, m.Charles Rothauser Industrial Products Limited, Australia, 1951.

Clear plastic syringe with white plastic plunger without needle

Marks

No marks

Short URL

https://ma.as/142885

Source

Credit Line

Gift of Charles Rothauser AO

Acquisition Date

11 May 1995

Cite this Object

Harvard

Disposable hypodermic syringe in container 2023, Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, accessed 30 March 2023, <https://ma.as/142885>

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://ma.as/142885 |title=Disposable hypodermic syringe in container |author=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences |access-date=30 March 2023 |publisher=Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, Australia}}

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