Title
"Quack" or Shock machine
DateCirca 1870
Mediumbrass, copper, steel, wood
Dimensions2 7/8 × 3 × 6 1/2 in. (7.3 × 7.6 × 16.5 cm)
Object number00.175.498
Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum
DescriptionA dovetailed mahogany box with a sliding lid. There are electrical inputs on each side of a sliding tube rheostat with multiple outputs at the other end for the wires to attach to a finger. "In the early 1900s, it was popularly believed that small doses of electricity could cure many ailments, from rheumatism to baldness. Shock machines, like this one, were often bought by ailing persons so they could administer their own treatment without calling for the local doctor. To 'take the medicine,' handles were placed on the ailing part of the body, then the patient’s body was used as a conductor as electric current passed between the probes. Prominent at a time when electricity was hard to come by, these shock machines usually generated their own, or came with a battery. These devices came with a custom battery. Models with generators included a handle that would be cranked to stimulate current."
On View
Not on view
Liebig Company- Publisher
Bassett, Orville
