Pictures of Nursing-Digital Gallery

Nurses: In Advertising

What do we see when we look closely?

Examine this early 1960s advertisement that uses nursing's association with modern scientific medicine and women's associations with domesticity and the home to promote a new mobile refrigerator.
Roll over different areas of the postcard to discover answers to the questions below.

- Q1What do you notice about this image of a nurse?
- A1The model in this advertisement presents a glamorous, carefully manicured image of the modern nurse in an immaculate white cap and slimly tailored uniform.
- Q2Can you spot what is in the refrigerator?
- A2The refrigerator is being used to store oral medicines and other drugs such as antibiotics that require a constant low temperature.
- Q3Can you find a link between the nurse and the refrigerator?
- A3Nurses are responsible for the administration of drugs and medical treatments. Portable refrigerators such as this one made by Morphy-Richards are suitable for storing medicines needed to treat a sick person at home.

A White female nurse in white looking down at refrigerator she is holding open.

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An advertisement shows a model dressed as a nurse using a portable refrigerator for storing drugs, mid-20th century

- Q1What do you notice about this image of a nurse?
- A1The model in this advertisement presents a glamorous, carefully manicured image of the modern nurse in an immaculate white cap and slimly tailored uniform.
- Q2Can you spot what is in the refrigerator?
- A2The refrigerator is being used to store oral medicines and other drugs such as antibiotics that require a constant low temperature.
- Q3Can you find a link between the nurse and the refrigerator?
- A3Nurses are responsible for the administration of drugs and medical treatments. Portable refrigerators such as this one made by Morphy-Richards are suitable for storing medicines needed to treat a sick person at home.