Large Gutta-percha comb, dated "1851"

Large Gutta-Percha Comb, dated "1851". Click photo and "Detailed Description".

This large Gutta-Percha Comb (hard rubber) measures 9" x 2". On one side is "No. 273" and "I.R.Comb Co's Unbreakable Goodyear 1851". The "I.R." is the India Rubber Comb Company, which manufactured items of hard vulcanized gutta-percha. They were in business from 1856 until 1898, when a merger formed the new American Hard Rubber Company. 

This comb is in good condition for its age, only having two teeth missing. There are similar examples from the I.R. Comb Co. in "India Rubber and Gutta-Percha in the Civil War Era", by Mike Woshner (see pictures).