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Origin and history of gurney

gurney(n.)

type of hospital cart, by 1921, of unknown origin. It also is a surname, and perhaps this use traces to the Gurney Ball Bearing Co. of Jamestown, N.Y., which was in active operation at the time but seems to have specialized in bearings for automobiles. Earliest use in hospital literature is in reference to carts for food and laundry.

also from 1921

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Trends of gurney

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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