The Kelco catalog - Part I

Steve Loftin

PCS Member
Site Supporter
The Sireno light bar, beacons, siren, and speaker were ordered right out of the Kelco catalog!

The Kelco Supply Co. is the funeral home supply division of the old L.H. Kellogg Chemical Co. (embalming fluid). They're still in business today:

http://www.kelcosupply.com/

What this thread covers will be what Kelco no longer sells...ambulance equipment! If you were in or around the funeral business through the late 1980s, you've probably seen the small (but thick and heavy) green catalogs. Today, these old gems tell us what we would have seen in our combinations and ambulances 30, 40, and even 50 years ago. With the exception of a two-way radio, a funeral director could completely equip his emergency vehicles from this catalog (including first aid kits and disposables).

Here are some pages from the 1975 catalog; some of the items and descriptions, however, date back closer to 1960. I'll identify as many of the stretchers as I can; hopefully, this will aid some of you in finding period-correct ambulance items for your car(s). Here are some examples:

Page 768
Top - ?
Next - #54-L
Next - #32
Bottom - #21, #21-L

Page 770
#28

Page 771
Mortuary cots (if it doesn't have side rails, it's not an ambulance cot)

Page 772
Top - #26

Page 773
Top - #30
Bottom - #27

Page 774
#32

Page 775
Top three - #30-TC (T = Trendelenburg, C = contour)
Next to last - #21-T
Bottom - #54
 

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Part II

Page 797
Top: #11
Next: #12
(These were very popular items and, depending on the material, color, and webbing, are correct for the vast majority of our postwar cars.)
 

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Part III

These goodies sure bring back memories...I used many (if not most) of them over the years:
 

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Part IV

Page 759
Bottom center: #MM-24

Page 762
Top: PA-5 (introduced 1961; 50-watt)

Page 764
Bottom - note the Q2B priced at $373.95!

Page 765 - "Lights and Sirens for your station wagon!"
Top - note the #174 Super at only $129.75
 

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450 for a ferno 28. they go for that on e-bay yet. the fun part is to remember that back then this stuff was expensive.
 
Casket tables

The two-piece table, with the flip-up extensions, is what came in my '67 Olds combination:
 

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Oxygen therapy equipment...

...builds good will for your establishment, according to Kelco:
 

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Page 776
Top - #21
Bottom - #21-L

Page 777
Top - #54-L
Bottom - #21-L

Hundreds - likely thousands - of the #54-Ls were used in station wagon and sedan delivery ambulances all over the country.
 

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Vintage 1950's Washington Kot complete with padding, looks to be all original. It will still collapse easily but the joints need to oiled! I believe its been upright for decades. has both side guards and the head portion can be raised.

The cot Nicholas has for sale is a #54, as seen on Page 779:
 

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Page 776
Bottom - #21-L

Page 777
Top - #54-L

Hundreds - likely thousands - of the #54-Ls were used in station wagon and sedan delivery ambulances all over the country.

Here are two examples of "low boy" cots being used. The first is a #21-L being loaded into a 1963 Ford.

The second is a #54-L being wheeled to a 1963 Pontiac. The two-level (up or down) knee-action legs on the #54 and #54-L, in the up position, allowed luggage to be carried while the patient was being moved to or from the ambulance:

(photos pirated)
 

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Here are two examples of "low boy" cots being used. The first is a #21-L being loaded into a 1963 Ford.

The second is a #54-L being wheeled to a 1963 Pontiac. The two-level (up or down) knee-action legs on the #54 and #54-L, in the up position, allowed luggage to be carried while the patient was being moved to or from the ambulance:

(photos pirated)

Correction; the first one is from my collection. The second one is from eBay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280877868301?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Ambulance action or in service photos can often be found on eBay. They're great for reference if you weren't around then and are trying to make your car and equipment period correct:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251031065443?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/170848030274?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

http://www.ebay.com/itm/160809845083?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

I'll bet patients didn't appreciate being up against the headliner on that #30 in the Pontiac wagon!
 
What model cot is this in this picture? thanks
attachment.php
 
those old press photos offer a world of choices for pierod correct stuff. be nice to see a better pictures of that 53. still in use in 63.
 
http://www.professionalcarsociety.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=4929&stc=1&d=1291312572

Want to know something that's sad?

We were genuinely bored the other night, and compared prices. Using the 2012 Required Equipment List for a BLS Ambulance in Pennsylvania, it would have cost about $3878 to equip the ambulance in 1976. In 2012, it would cost $19366.28 to buy the same baseline equipment.

In that ad picture, the stairchair in the lower right corner is still made today. Nothing has changed about it, in fact we have one in the corner of our supply closet. In that ad, it's $99.00.. Ferno Model 42. Today, it costs over $900.00, and it's the most simple model available. That's sickening.
 
federal mandates. so soon as you had to have it by law the price climes up.
you do have to admit that at least today there is a choice in colors
 
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