In London, Giovanni Aldini's experiments involved the application of electrical currents given to a recently executed criminal. Aldini stated: “On the first application of the arcs the jaw began to quiver, the adjoining muscles were horribly contorted, and the left eye actually opened.” Mary Shelly wrote her classic horror story of reanimation by electricity just a few years later in 1818, and the introduction of her second edition of “Frankenstein” included the comment that reanimation of the dead is “not of impossible occurrence.” The idea for her novel may have come in part from the work of Aldini.

Large electrostatic generators, sometimes referred to as friction machines, could produce a high voltage current when spinning glass plates or cylinders were in contact with pads of various materials. The resulting charge was then stored in Leyden jars, which acted as capacitors, and the current was used therapeutically in any number of ways the imagination could conceive. Despite the fact that these devices were without any proven merit, many were found in physicians’ offices in the early twentieth century.

An electrostatic generator in use from Practical Electro-Therapeutics (1908) by Franklin Gottschalk, MD

Illustration by Amedee Guillemin

This is another variety of electrostatic generator.

Early models could be used in the home for nervous disorders.

This unmarked direct current electric chair was used in the doctor's office to treat any number of medical conditions.

Consumers were offered many ways in which to utilize the new marvel of electricity at home. In 1854, Davis and Kidder patented a magneto-electric machine which became one of the earliest and most popular home electric devices of the nineteenth century. It generated an electric current from spinning magnets which sent a small shock to surprised and delighted patients suffering from any number of nervous disorders. (left): unmarked; (right): by Joseph Gray and Son, Sheffield

This is an unusual variety of the hand cranked magnto machine.

This is a very complicated battery powered device with lots of "bells and whistles."

This small French direct current device was manufactured in Paris though availale in the US.

This corset could be worn at home for the treatment of muscular or abdominal disorders. A small battery provided the power.

These popular brushes actually contained magnets inside and the small compass that came with the brush proved to the buyer that this device had healing powers.

This comb contained a battery to make it effective in restoring hair.

The Electreat was a hand-held battery powered apparatus for home use that was to be drawn across the body to relieve pain and strengthen the heart. This instrument was first manufactured in Peoria, Illinois in 1919, and has the distinction of being the first device seized by the government under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938.

Another option was the electric belt, which contained a copper disc in the front with two to four chrome plated nickel discs at the rear. The “copper-nickel interaction” supposedly created a healing electromagnetic field that would treat almost any disease by magnetizing iron in the blood, thus improving oxygenation to all tissues. A belt was available for each sex, the male type containing a suspensory attachment for improved potency.

One of the more popular devices was a Boyd’s galvanic battery as electricity was purportedly produced by the “amalgamation” of several different metals. When hung around the neck, the Boyd’s Battery cured by “electrifying the entire system.”

In his 1879 handbook, Boyd guaranteed the ability of his Miniature Battery to cure almost any condition.

Small batteries increased the ability of these weights to energizer the user.

Carnival sideshows often had a place in their penny arcades for electrotherapy where entrepreneurs saw a commercial opportunity in diagnosing and treating medical conditions.

This is one of the more ornate devices of this type.

There was always a demand for devices that would treat mental disease. Electric helmets of all sorts were manufactured in the early part of the twentieth century to provde relief for these patients, mostly in Italy and in France.

by Societe Electromedica, Apparecchi ad alla frequenza, Milano in Italy

an electric helmet from France

This glass helmet was used in Milan, Italy for the treatment of any number of central nervous system complaints.

This is a very unusual cased direct current Italian electric helmet from Balzanni in Milan.