Electrotherapeutic Faradic Battery

Object/Artifact

-

Museum Of American Heritage

Name/Title

Electrotherapeutic Faradic Battery

Entry/Object ID

1000.585.4

Description

Electrotherapy; faradic battery; quack medicine

Made/Created

Manufacturer

Montgomery Ward & Co.

Date made

circa 1870 - circa 1920

Notes

The heyday of medical batteries was between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Material

Wood

Web Links and URLs

University of Pittsburgh (post from rare objects collection on history of medicine), UT Health Science Center Library (post on electrotherapy history), Academic journal article on medical batteries in the US

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

curated description

Label

Electrotherapeutic Faradic Battery Montgomery Ward & Co. Late 19th - Early 20th Century While electrotherapy can have legitimate medical uses, hyperbolic marketing of at-home devices like this one could push such technology into the realm of “quack medicine.” Faradic batteries generated alternating currents. Channeled through electrodes, these currents supposedly cured almost any imaginable health problem, according to the advertising.

General Notes

Note

Instruction sheet, electrodes, for medical treatments .