History

Victorian London witnessed an exponential growth in artificial limb suppliers. Unlike the store in this game, which sells devices made by many manufacturers, typically artificial limb stores sold the signature devices of the owner. Typically, the surname of the designer was used as the trading name for prostheses (for example, Gray’s artificial leg). However, alongside the growing number of makers, surgical instrument makers also prospered in this period and occasionally these (often large) companies sold the branded devices of well-known makers. For example, the surgical instrument company Arnold and Sons sold Kempner’s improved artificial leg, which appears in this game. For more on the development of the prosthesis industry in the nineteenth century, see Ryan Sweet’s free 2022 book Prosthetic Body Parts in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture.