It was the summer of 1915.  The Eastland Disaster had just occurred on the Chicago River, the Chicago Cubs - a year before heading to the "Friendly Confines" of Wrigley Field - were laboring in vain with another losing season at the West Side Grounds and Al Capone was a mere underboss bodyguard.  In the midst of that summer's intense heat wave, which was credited with 535 deaths in Chicago, an energetic Scottish-Canadian entrepreneur by the name of William John Cameron opened his business in the Windy City.  

Will's landmark business, originally named "American Surgical Specialty Company," would be a main stay in Chicago for the remainder of his lifetime, and then some.  Medical and dental professionals would make Cameron's Surgical Specialty Company their instrumentation choice until Will's death in 1953 and up until 1959, when the company passed out of the family's hands and closed its doors.  While the Cameron's Surgical name survives - in part - to this day with another company, this website tells the story of Will's original business.

It all began with an unassuming 1" clear surgical lamp...