Haemo-Vac Evacuated Container for 500 ml. of Plasma: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This object is one of over 700 medically related objects used on the set of the television show M*A*S*H. Most of these items are authentic medical instruments, supplies, and equipment from the 1950s.

M*A*S*H was an award-winning television show based on the bestselling novel and Oscar winning motion picture film of the same title. It portrayed the lives of doctors and nurses assigned to a fictitious medical unit, the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, based in Uijeongbu, Korea during the 1950-1953 war. The program was initially broadcast from September 17, 1972 to February 28, 1983.

After the show ended in 1983, Twentieth Century Fox donated material from the two major sets, the “Swamp” and the “Operating Theater,” to the museum, along with scripts, photographs, and interviews with individuals who served in MASH units in Korea and Vietnam. See accessions 1983.0095, 1985.0335, 1988.0748, 1988.3163, and archival collection NMAH.AC.0117, for further MASH material.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Object Name: plasma bottle with theatrical blood
• ID Number: 1985.0252.055
• catalog number: 1985.0252.055
• accession number: 1985.0252
• Credit Line: Gift of Twentieth Century Fox
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.