Bellevue Hospital (NYC) School of Nursing Grads - Save Your Cap

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Cannot post actual eBay listing due to TOS limitations, but should be able to find.

Auction is for vintage a group of "1874 Hunter Bellevue Hospital..." nurse's caps. I should write seller telling him that his listing is incorrect as Bellevue Hospital school of nursing didn't merge with CUNY/Hunter College until 1967, with final Bellevue diploma class graduating in 1969.

In any event these caps are very rare and should be kept "in the family" so to speak. Seller mentions a museum is interested, but he wants to make his money so won't donate.

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Good Lord, the opening bid is $3,500! Yikes!

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Good Lord, the opening bid is $3,500! Yikes!

Yes, seller is really being a terminal of the pudendal artery.

Vintage nursing caps do go for big money, but not several thousands of dollars.

Seller is a pawn shop, so one wonders how bad things must have been for last owners of these caps that they pawned them for money. Do not know but am willing to bet they didn't get $3k or more in cash for their efforts.

Historically Bellevue School of Nursing caps were some of the most difficult to obtain for those who did not graduate from program. The school kept things on a tight lead and without proper credentials the pin and cap were impossible to obtain.

IIRC Kay's caps *might* have the pattern, but Bellevue is one of those which require some sort of documentation before ordering.

When the process began to merge Bellevue with Hunter college alumni of the former, current students and others connected made quite a noise about CUNY students possibly getting their mitts on Bellevue's famed cap. Hunter shot back that per negotiations Bellevue's cap and pin would remain property of that school, and in any event they had their own anyway.

Hopefully seller will come to his senses and realize he isn't going to fund his retirement from those caps. Thus freeing them to be taken by an alumni, related association and or go into a museum where they belong.

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I wonder if there's an alumni association that might negotiate the purchase.

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I wonder if there's an alumni association that might negotiate the purchase.

Yes, there is:

Bellevue Alumnae Center for Nursing History - Foundation of New York State Nurses

In fact there seem to be a couple of archive sources littered about: Bellevue School of Nursing | Lillian & Clarence de la Chapelle Medical Archives

It just might very well be that the alumni association, archives or other sources are well supplied with caps donated or otherwise sourced. They likely surely don't have $3k to plunk down for a set of caps.

When you consider how many nurses today consider caps and or whites medieval, any begging cup passed around might come up quite empty.

On another note an interesting article about the movement of nursing education out of hospitals and into colleges as it related to Bellevue and Hunter College.

""Nurses' Training May Be Shifted": The Story of Bellevue and Hunter College, 1942-1969" by Lewenson, Sandra B. - Nursing History Review, Vol. 21, January 1, 2

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Good Lord, the opening bid is $3,500! Yikes!

Asking ain't getting. *LOL*

Seller has been trying for over two months to get his asking price with no takers. No one is even "watching" the auctions.

Give it a few more weeks or months and (hopefully) the man will see sense.

I mean it isn't as if caps are standard issue and or worn today. Only persons willing to pay big money (in relative terms) are collectors, alumni associations and or perhaps a graduate seeking to replace one she lost.

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Update: I'm "watching" the auction, and the caps still aren't selling (I'm so surprised!! :rolleyes:)

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Update: I'm "watching" the auction, and the caps still aren't selling (I'm so surprised!! :rolleyes:)

Nope, they're not and don't expect they ever will; not for the money seller is asking.

Again a museum, collector, alumni society or whatever likely would love to have that lot; but no one has that kind of money lying about spare.

Also as noted there isn't really anything anyone can really do with them other than for collectors/display purposes.

At least here in NYC area haven't seen a cap in ages, and that includes during Nurses Week. This much less at or anywhere near Bellevue. Besides those caps would need to be restored to white or something close enough (which may not be possible), and likely material is too fragile for shoving pins into that are needed to anchor the things down onto head.

Quite honestly am surprised that "family of nurses" themselves didn't donate those caps to Bellevue's alumni society or something.

Anyway we can only hope after several more months of not even a nibble seller will see sense,and either drop his price of just donate the things.

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