"Totally Bizarre?"  No, but that category gets noticed, and if this listing saves someone's teeth, then the indiscretion will have been worth it in my book.  Secondly, what's not to like about almost perfect provenance?  Yes, make offers.  My big $$$ is simply eye-candy, clicky-clicky.  My original thought was an auction starting at a C-note.

Maple innards

Monogrammed "JGW Jr."

76 mm = 3 inches

Early 1950's

My father knew at the age of 10 what he wanted to do with his life--the practice of medicine.  He did not write the book on "bedside manner," but they sent it to him to proofread. I witnessed his manner when as a child, I often accompanied him on evening visits to patients at their homes.  "House Calls," they were called.  As often as not, I was tasked with carrying a basket or two of fruits and veggies to the car on our leaving--in lieu of payment, yes, but also out of love for the man.  Whatever his faults as a father, the physician in him was as heart-warming to his patients...

He was on Iwo Jima, prior to the infamous "flag raising," with the USMC as an 18-year-old PFC, where he earned a Purple Heart for a rifle round in his derriere.  He later smoked three packs of cigarettes a day in medical school at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.  He quit smoking during med school when, as he put it, "three classmates died of lung cancer."

OBTW, he was smoking filter-less cigarettes.  I once did, as well.  I have smoked for 48 of my 63 years.  One result is that I haven't a single tooth in my head.  So dear reader, smoke if you must, and enjoy this piece of history, but find sooner rather than later ways to curb your addiction or limit it, because