Centennial Tiemann Exhibition Set

George Tiemann and Company was one of the leading medical instrument makers of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The company was founded by German immigrant George Tiemann in New York in 1826. Tiemann's fiftieth anniversary in 1876 was also a special time in US history since it marked the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Other significant events taking place that year included the Battle of the Little BigHorn; Wyatt Earp became marshall in Dodge City, Kansas; "Wild Bill" Hickok was murdered in Deadwood, South Dakota; the Jessie James/Cole Younger gang ended when only Jessie and Frank James escaped an attempted robbery of the First National Bank of Northfield, Minnesota; all Native Americans were ordered on reservations; Bell patented the telephone; the first transcontinental train arrived in San Francisco from New York; and the Johns Hopkins University opened. The nation's centennial gave the United States an opportunity to show the world the progress that had been made after the first hundred years so the US hosted the World's Fair for the first time at the birthplace of the nation in Philadelphia. The Tiemann Company also marked their fiftieth anniversary at this event by manufacturing a very special and unique set of surgical instruments. This Tiemann set was displayed at the Fair in Philadelphia from May 10 through November 10, 1876. An extract from the General Report of the Judges states in part, "The largest collection of instruments was exhibited by Messrs. Tiemann & Co., of New York. It embraced almost every instrument used by the surgeon in general or special practice, and some entirely new. In material, workmanship and exquisite finish, they could not be excelled."