All Objects Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Ultraviolet Ray Generator |
Object ID |
2004.001.01.01 |
Date |
/ / |
Earliest Year |
1900 |
Latest Year |
1950 |
Description |
Paper covered wooden box with leather handle. Inside is covered with faded red paper. Metal holders in lid for attachment and ultraviolet tube. Inside the box is a cord with a plastic (bakelite?) wand on the end and a cord to be plugged into an electrical outlet. The interior of the box is mostly taken up by a solid box with a control knob on top in the middle. |
Dimensions |
H-14 W-29 L-22 cm |
Dimension Details |
2004.001.01.01 Ultraviolet Ray Generator - L: 22.0 cm x W: 29.0 cm x H: 14.0 cm 2004.001.01.02 Attachment - L: 17.5 cm x diam.: 1.7 cm 2004.001.01.03 Tube - MISSING |
Materials |
Paper/Metal/Wood/Leather/Plastic/Glass |
Manufacturer |
Elco Lindstrom & Co., Chicago USA |
Inscription Type |
Inscription |
Inscription Text |
Interior left corner of box lid: "Elco Violet Ray"; On interior box beside dial: "MADE IN U.S.A. Elco Lindstrom & Co. CHICAGO MODEL 34 VOLTS 110 WATTS 50 CURRENT A.C. OR D.C." |
Provenance |
In the early 1920s, the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, Canada, began accepting medical artifacts for a historical museum. It remained an unofficial collection until it was turned into the Medical Museum and Archives at University Hospital in the 1970s. In the 1990s, many of these artifacts were spread out among various local institutions, and the remaining objects were reorganized into the Medical Artifact Collection at the University of Western Ontario, catalogued and organized by Michelle Hamilton. |
MeSH Search Terms |
Therapeutics Phototherapy Ultraviolet Therapy Ultraviolet Rays Electric Stimulation Therapy |
Classification |
Electricity Electrotherapy |
Research Notes |
Beginning in the late 19th century, legitimate physicians and quack doctors alike began promoting the "curative and restorative powers" of electricity. Parallel to the rise in these devices becoming affordable consumer products, effective advertising marketed these deceptive products to potential customers. Claiming to cure every ailment that plagued modern life, these devices offered quick and fashionable fixes for most aches, pains, or personal dysfunctions. It is a handheld machine, with interchangeable glass applicators. When in use, the bulbs produced a stream of violet-coloured light, rapid vibration, and heat. Given the internal and intimate nature of this device, they were commonly targeted towards women. |