Devices and therapies

Kimball’s Anti-Rheumatic Ring

This 1890s product – which fits into the tradition of the magnetic or copper jewellery that many people still swear by for arthritis and general health – claimed to cure rheumatism by eliminating acid from the blood.

Men and women in 19th-century clothing sit on benches in an underground cave.

Rocks that Shock: the Hillman Electric Resort

In 1880s Georgia, a Baptist minister accidentally discovered rocks that appeared to emit a therapeutic power of electricity. As their fame spread, the location became a popular resort for people in search of healing.

Maggot sheds at Jerusalem Farm, pictured in the Leeds Mercury, 31 July 1911. (British Newspaper Archive)

A breath of maggoty air

A fishing-bait breeder discovered in 1911 that the gases in his maggot shed might cure consumption.

The New and Delightful Method - Punch vol 45 p175

‘A new sensation’: hair-brushing by machinery

Originating in Bristol in 1862, the hair-brushing machine whirred its way into the public consciousness of Victorian Britain.

An inventor’s survival: Ramey’s Medicator

Ramey’s Medicator was meant to cure ‘death-dealing disease’. What most customers didn’t know was that its inventor had been through a life-threatening medical experience of his own.

The Cartilage Company, from 'Recreation', Feb 1906

How to grow tall

ADvent Calendar Day 11 Rochester, NY, might ring a bell for attentive followers of this calendar, as it made an appearance on Day 8 as the location of the New York Institute of Science. That it was home to another dodgy organisation is no coincidence. Thomas Adkin, the Institute’s President, was also a director of […]

The intangible power that controls human destiny

ADvent Calendar Day 8 The marvellous book on offer from the New York Institute of Science in the first decade of the twentieth century was called The Philosophy of Influence, and promised ‘The secret of power, the science of health. Life’s mysteries unveiled.’ One would have to wait a little longer to unveil them, however, […]

The Dolly Dimpler

ADvent Calendar Day 6 Designed to create adorable dimples where there were none before, devices like this appeared in the 1920s. Evangeline Isabella Gilbert of Rochester, NY, filed a patent in 1921 (not granted until 1926) for a dimple-producer that involved two pointed knobs fitted to a spring bow that pushed them into the wearer’s […]

Godfrey’s Inhaler

This mainstream medical product enabled the inhalation of vapour for the treatment of asthma, hay fever, coughs, colds and other respiratory problems. The vapour was created by combining hydrochloric acid and ammonium chloride, which were provided in attractive little glass bottles – one clear and one emerald green. There are some pictures of the product, […]

Claxton’s Patent Ear Cap

ADvent Calendar Day 4 ‘It has often been observed by experienced elders, that since it became the fashion for babies to discard caps, protruding ears are but too common. They are very ugly, and the ear-cap just invented is a safe preventive, without the heat that made the cap objectionable.’ (Northampton Mercury, 17 April 1891) […]