Jack Gann
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Jack Gann
@jackgann.bsky.social
420 followers 270 following 270 posts
Historian and curator. Museums, Victorians, and medicine.

Currently curator at Thackray Museum of Medicine, Leeds
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Always nice to receive feedback!

💩🤮👎
A photo of the 'Poo Lab' in Thackray Museum of Medicine's exhibition gallery. It is bright and colourful, with an undulating intestine of neon lights hanging from the ceiling over a splat-shaped orange table with lab-themed play activities. There are colourful test tubes, both regular size and giant. A close up of the orange lab table in the Thackray Museum's 'Poo Lab'. Inside a perspex cube there is a sphere of resin containing a real human turd. It resembles a fecal crystal ball and has been kindly loaned by the National Poo Museum. Colourful large magnifying glasses accompany a label in a brown splat that invites you to "Take a closer look". A folded piece of lined paper torn from a notebook. In a child's writing it says "Petition. We hate poos!" A handwritten note inside the folded paper. Written in a child's handwriting it reads: "Dear people who created the poo lab you are a very big dumby and idiot. destroy it but first shut down the whole thing for two days. did I mention it's super gross and makes me lose my aptite it's really weird and supergross I really hate it."
November 21, 2025 at 8:21 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Saw Guillermo del Toro's beautiful Frankenstein for Halloween.

I love this poster's reference to the 1700s 'Flayed Angel'.

Fitting for a movie that is fascinated by traditional anatomical illustration and the language it shares with Catholic art, depictions of martyred saints and memento mori.
A poster for the 2025 film adaptation of Frankenstein by Guillermo del Toro. A body seen from the back has been dissected along the spine, exposing the curvature of back of the ribcage, the skin and muscle of the back folded out to give the appearance of wings. The muscles and tendons are a vivid, vibrant blood red. The image is both graceful and horrific. In keeping with the creature in the movie, the figure's neck has needle electrodes sticking into the top of the spine, and his head is wrapped in bandages. Flowers, butterflies and flames seem to emerge from the dissected cadaver. Characters and details from the film, including the ivory white coffin of Frankenstein's mother and the jet black one of his father are arranged around the central image. An 18th century mezzotint of a partially dissected woman, taken from Jacques-Fabien Gautier d'Agoty's book 'Myologie complette en coleur'. The arched back, surgically opened along the spine, musculature peeled back to resemble wings, ribs revealed, is the same as the Frankenstein poster. So is the vibrant red of the body revealed beneath the skin. In this case, however, the face (unbandaged) is that of a young, attractive woman. Credit: Muscles of the back: partial dissection of a seated woman, showing the bones and muscles of the back and shoulder. Colour mezzotint by J.F. Gautier d'Agoty, 1745/1746. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.
October 31, 2025 at 6:00 PM
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Visiting the newly revamped Station Hall at National Railway Museum. A blast from the past back to when TG Jones went by a different name.

(And you could buy a cheap giallo George Eliot novel on the platform).
A green steam train and carriage on display in the Station Hall of the National Railway Museum. A vintage poster advertises Great Western Railway's 1939 guide to 'Holiday Haunts', priced at a very reasonable sixpence. The 1920s WH Smith's book stall from the platform of Waterloo Station, displayed in recreated form in the National Railway Museum's Station Hall. On the mahogany fascia, gold lettering spells out "W.H.SMITH & SON - BOOKSELLERS - LIBRARIANS". There are museum interpretation panels in the windows, including one with a photo of an elephant perusing a train station book stall. A copy of Silas Marner by George Eliot on display in the Railway Museum's WH Smith's. A lurid, yellow cover shows a pulpy image of Silas discovering the child Eppie. It is a 2017 Vintage Classics reprint, part of a celebration of Smith's 225th anniversary and the history of cheap 'yellowback' paperbacks sold at train stations.
October 27, 2025 at 7:15 PM
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Snakes as symbols of wisdom goes beyond classical Europe. The snake on the Mexican coat of arms (seen on this jar of krameria root) references the founding myth of the city of Tenochtitlan, but more widely draws on beliefs about snakes as signifying wisdom in Aztec culture.
October 26, 2025 at 10:19 AM
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Although several medical organisations (as in this 1950s British Medical Association car badge) prefer twin snakes, that symbol is actually more reminiscent of the caduceus - associated with Hermes - than the rod of Asclepius (and so means commerce rather than healing).
A close up detail of a car badge, showing twin snakes wrapped around a pole.
October 26, 2025 at 10:09 AM
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There are several myths about why Asclepius (and hence medicine) got associated with snakes. Maybe snakes - already linked to wisdom - whispered secrets to him. Or maybe it's an embrace of medicine's duality: like a snake it can kill or cure.

Either way, hospitals still love a snake badge.
A 1960s nursing badge from Bingley Hospital in Yorkshire. It depicts the rod of Asclepius (a snake wrapped around a staff).
October 26, 2025 at 9:54 AM
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Salus inherited the association with snakes from Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, whose staff is still a medical symbol today.

Salus has sometimes been styled as Rome's equivalent to Asclepius's daughter Hygieia (from whom we get the word 'hygiene').
A brass apothecary's weight from the 1600s. It has a simplified image of a snake coiled around a staff embossed into the surface.
October 26, 2025 at 8:09 AM
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Snakes and just used for literal medicine, they are also a traditional medical symbols.

This ancient Roman coin shows Salus, goddess of health and welfare, whose iconography traditionally involves a snake on an altar.
A brass sestertius coin from the time of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. It depicts Salus, goddess of health and wellbeing, standing over an altar from which a snake emerges.
October 26, 2025 at 7:55 AM
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Theriac didn't cure snake bites, of course, but there's an element of 'like cures like' to modern antivenom. This is made from serum (the clear liquid part of blood) from livestock animals that have built up antibodies against snake venoms they have been exposed to.
A photo of a green plastic box in a museum display. Labels in English and Afrikaans on top of the box say "Snake-bite Outfit / Slangteensif Uitrusting" along with the 1960s logo of the South African Institute for Medical Research. The contents of the box are displayed beside it, including a tiny clear vial labelled "Serum".
October 26, 2025 at 7:22 AM
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A classic example of the 'hair of the dog that bit you' approach to medicine, theriac was an antidote to venom made from viper flesh.

As a popular cure-all, recipes for theriac could have up to 60 other ingredients from opium to carrots. In Italy, the production of theriac came with its own rituals
A large ceramic albarello (a concave sided historic drug jar) from 1600s Italy. It has a yellow glaze with blue and white floral and animal imagery. A label across the front says "Teriaca". A swarm of plastic toy snakes are arranged as if slithering out of and around the neck of the jar.
October 25, 2025 at 8:48 PM
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Cobra venom can kill in less than half an hour, but it also has a long history of use as a painkiller. There is even research into cobra venom's ability to fight cancer. Cytotoxins in cobra venom have been shown to rupture cells in certain leukaemia tumours.
A black plastic toy snake curled around a small glass vial with a red "Poison' label. It is sealed inside a larger glass tube with a cork stopper. A handwritten label reads: "Snake venom (cobra)"
October 25, 2025 at 8:32 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
Why did it have to be snakes?

The greatest fear of antiquity-hunting adventurers is the focus of this temporary display case for Halloween half term's "Fears and Phobias" theme.

(Which means spending my last afternoon before the school holidays putting a bunch of cheap plastic snakes on display).
A museum display case containing historic artefacts from ancient Rome to 1960s South Africa, all related to the theme of snakes and medicine. Children's toy snakes in an array of colours are arranged around the case: entwined around a vial of cobra venom from India, or spilling from an apothecary jar from 1600s Italy.
October 25, 2025 at 6:40 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
By inviting kids to keep asking questions in our latest exhibition, I have condemned myself to a job of constantly responding to weird fecal enquiries.

Fortunately, having a 5 year old has been the perfect training for this.
A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Lucy, aged 9, from barsnley. in the olden days what did the people use to wipe there bottoms before toilet roll" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Even before toilet roll, people used paper to wipe their bums. Pages torn from books or newspapers were popular with the Victorians. Further back, Vikings used moss and natural materials, while ancient Greeks favoured broken bits of pottery. Ouch!" A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Tabitha, aged 10, from Bolton. Is it true that we get our gut bacteria from our mother when we are born?" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Yes, it is. Your gut develops its community of helpful germs right from the moment you are born. Germs passed on from your mum while she gives birth give your guts a healthy start in life, helping you to fight disease as you grow." A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Rosa, aged 9, from barnsley. did people use to eat poo?" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Eating human poo exposes you to some nasty germs, so has never been a good idea. However, for Inuit people in Greenland, the droppings of a bird called a ptarmigan are considered a delicacy." A form written in a child's handwriting that says: "Emily S, aged 9 and a quarter, from Milnrow. Do bigger/older people do bigger poos?" A screen with a cartoon poo character and printed text that says: "Grown ups tend to do bigger poos than children, because they eat more. But that does not mean poos get bigger and bigger as you get old. In fact, people over 60 are much more likely to be constipated, which generally results in much smaller poos. (Type 1 on the Poo Chart over there)."
October 14, 2025 at 5:17 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
The star was definitely this cheap little souvenir gladiator from the amphitheatre in 1st century Pompeii.

The museum was full of cosplayers from the comic con outside and it really drummed home how fans are always going to want collectable figurines of their faves.

Antique funko pop.
A photo of a little terracotta figurine on display in a museum. It is a model of the murmillo-class gladiator whose helmet we just saw.
October 13, 2025 at 6:36 PM
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Enjoyed visiting the Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum exhibition at the Armouries.

Especially learning that they existed on an almost entirely bean-based diet. Which means that Russell Crowe in the training barracks should have been letting rip like that scene in Blazing Saddles.
A gladiator's helmet in a museum display. It is an example of the heavily armed "murmillo"-class gladiator. The helmet shows an embossed depiction of the personification of Rome standing over conquered people.
October 13, 2025 at 5:53 PM
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Come and have free food and a chat about gardening at Thackray Museum this Wednesday.

thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/commun...
A poster with people sitting at a long table enjoying a meal, surrounded by plants. The title reads "Community Table: Plants, gardens & health".
October 9, 2025 at 4:04 PM
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The museum's lecture series, Insights, is back from this Saturday.

To tie in with our POO! exhibition, the first lectures come from Dr Piers Mitchell from Cambridge's Ancient Parasites Laboratory and gut microbiome scientist Dr Jane Freeman.

Tickets here:
thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/thackr...
An image of microscopic gut bacteria in shades of purple. It has the title "Insights 2025/2026" over the image.
October 7, 2025 at 10:03 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Being stuck at home with covid makes me wonder how long until the museum puts on its inevitable covid exhibition.

How soon is too soon? At what point does it become a valuable and important thing to look back on and memorialise?
A photo of the lights hanging over the staircase at Thackray Museum of Medicine. A set of spiky balls resembling the COVID-19 viruses, each in a different rainbow colour, it is the museum's covid memorial. A photo of a pop-up museum display from 2021, showing the Thackray Museum's contemporary collecting around COVID-19. The display includes homemade scrubs and posters and signs. A photo of a vial of COVID-19 vaccine on display at Thackray Museum of Medicine. It is the Novavax version, taken from trials conducted at the museum. A photo of a street in Leeds, taken during the COVID-19 pandemic. The streets are unusually quiet and empty. A public information sign gives information on social distancing and hand sanitiser, saying: "Welcome to Leeds city centre. Your safety is our main priority."
October 1, 2025 at 9:50 AM
jackgann.bsky.social
Just booked my covid vaccine for two weeks time, then this happens.
A positive Covid test.
September 26, 2025 at 11:54 AM
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Come and see me talking blood, politics, capitalism, and disease at @otleyscience.bsky.social on November 14th. What a fun afternoon (Mike Berners-Lee is on in the evening, you could make a depressing day of it).

otleycourthouse.org.uk/events/otley...
A museum display featuring three objects: a vial of blood clotting factor from the 1970s, blood sample test tubes with HIV biohazard labels, and a red, yellow and black memorial ribbon from the campaign group Tainted Blood.
September 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
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We get asked about this often enough that I added it as a bonus answer in our "answering kids' questions about poo" exhibition.
A white and blue ceramic apothecary jar from the 1700s with a painted label saying "Torment", like a delftware Pandora's Box. Next to the jar, a museum label asks "What's in a jar of torment?" and answers "Torment means pain and suffering, but this medicine does the opposite. The roots of tormentil, a yellow flower related to a rose, have long been a natural cure for the torment of diarrhoea."
September 24, 2025 at 12:28 PM
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Sign of the times, though, that children born in the pandemic have dolls whose accessories are face masks.
The Chelsea doll being played with by small hands. She is wearing a purple face mask.
July 30, 2025 at 2:13 PM
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Have reached the point where a train trip requires bringing not just a choice of entertainment for real world 5 year old, but also for Chelsea.
A doll of Barbie's kid sister Chelsea, sat on the table of an LNER train. She has headphones on and a tablet, along with a backback and a teddy.
July 30, 2025 at 1:56 PM
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It was the way people keep yelling "I'm gonna gut you like a fish" while you're just out for a nice stroll that particularly stood out.
An excerpt from an online review of Assassin's Creed: Syndicate's Jack the Ripper DLC. It says: "One – perhaps unintended – consequence of having twin protagonists Jacob and Evie Fry experience the same things is to highlight how the same behaviour directed towards a woman walking in the city and a man in the same space does not necessarily provoke the same response. While the shouts and cries directed at the player from rival gangsters as they pass in the street are coded the same in software terms, the social coding of yelling ‘I’m gonna gut you like a fish’ at a lone woman is clearly not the same as at a man, and, even as a male player, this feels a more uncomfortable threat directed towards my female avatar than if I were to play as Jacob." It is illustrated by a screenshot of the middle-aged Evie from the DLC walking down a dark Whitechapel back alley.
July 26, 2025 at 2:09 PM
jackgann.bsky.social
New exhibition opens today.

It's about poo. And answering children's questions.

It's both silly and informative. And can be enjoyed throughout the summer and up to the end of the year.

💩

thackraymuseum.co.uk/event/poo/
A paper towel dispenser typically seen in public toilets. It is labelled "Take a Sheet" and dispenses fun worksheets for museum visitors A museum display with a poster and objects in a glass case. A text panel reads "Peek-a-Poo". The case is made up of round peep holes through which different shapes of plasticine poo are displayed on perspex blocks. They are the different shapes of the Bristol Stool Chart, made and described by local school kids. A Bristol Stool Chart type 4 is captioned "A smooth, slippery pickle. Looks like a hotdog or a baby's arm". Twenty toilet seats mounted on a wall. They have questions on the lid ranging from "when?" and "why?" to "can poo be used for medicine?" A fossilised faeces from the Middle Ages, sitting in a clear petri dish on a perspex block. Colourful neon lights reflect off the surface of the block.
July 26, 2025 at 1:56 PM