Practically Classics Forum

Does anyone happen to know if these are of any value / use or if they are just dangerous things I should get rid of?
I have a dozen of them in a box

My retired paramedic Missus had a look and said that they had no collector value, the centigrade was the giveaway, had they been fahrenheit without metric alternative, you would get quite a shekel or two for them.
Judging by the length of them, they might be designed to go into a darker orifice, best not reuse them!

They look more like the type used for baking or beer/wine making. Retail for about four quid. I think GHT's suggestion is incorrect, the scale would be much shorter if that were the case, there's no need to measure body temperature much above 40 deg. Celsius, the patient would be dead by then, probably an indication of how his mind works Furthermore, a medical thermometer has a kink in the mercury near the bulb to retain the reading after it has been removed, that's why you have to shake them before using. Not in the least dangerous unless you break them. Why not put them on eBay?

suffolkpete wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 09, 2017 10:23 am

......Why not put them on eBay?

Seconded. Stick them up at the cost of postage and anything above that is a bonus.

Interesting find - I see they came from Little Eaton which is just a few miles away from me. I wonder if they came from the Food and Dairy Company ?

http://www.foodanddairy.com/index.html

Mike.

Thanks for your replies, I live fairly close to Derby and work in Alfreton so they are from quite local to me too
The label on each thermometer says "Supplied by Analytical Supplies Ltd., Little Eaton, Derby, Telephone: Breadshall 671/2" which shows their age.
The box once contained 12, I have 12 tubes, 11 have thermometers in but one of them is broken. I do have an added bonus one which has a scale in Fahrenheit from 0 - 240.
There is some tape on the outside of the box saying "Staffordshire Council Burton ITeC" and a label saying:
"IMPORTANT, Although mercury columns sometimes part owing to rough transit handling, you can easily re-join them. Just hold the thermometer upright over a small flame and slowly warm the bulb until the mercury rises and enters the overflow cavity at the top. If you now remove from the heat, the mercury will withdraw in one piece.
The secret is never to rush the operation and do not over-heat or fill the cavity more than a third full with mercury or you may burst the bulb"

"CONTENTS: 1 DOZEN 12" CHEMICAL THERMOMETERS"

I'll have a look around and see if I can find some small rigid tubes they could be posted in as I'm not sure posting one in a jiffy bag is going to be a good idea.