The Hidden History of the Hearing Aid  

By Mike McLeod

Up until the 1800s, people with hearing problems used a cupped hand or an ear horn to amplify sound. It was after the invention of the telephone (which received sound, converted it to electricity and then back to amplified sound) in 1876 that hearing aid devices began to appear on the market. These were big and bulky, some as big as a desktop radio. A major breakthrough came in the 1920s with the miniaturization of batteries. Previously, hearing aids were powered by a battery pack that had to be worn.

The next major change came in the 1950s with the invention of transistors. Hearing aids were then reduced to a size that could be worn behind or in the ear. In the 1990s, digital technology replaced analog, and hearing aids can now be programmed to meet the wearer's individual hearing needs.

Today, having a hearing problem is usually accepted by society without thinking less of the individual. But in times passed, this was not always true. "The deaf are, as a general rule, very sensitive over their infirmity, and hence dislike any instrument which is conspicuous, or makes this condition more apparent; for this reason many other devices have been invented, which seek to conceal this fact, as much as possible." wrote Dr. James A. Campbell in 1882.

Hiding hearing devices by disguising them as everyday items became almost an art form.
"Sensitive persons, particularly ladies, have an aversion to advertising their affliction in public by the use of many of the usual forms of hearing instruments. To meet this very natural objection, such instruments have been ingeniously combined with fans, parasols, umbrellas, muffs, handbags or reticules, bouquet holders, opera glasses, and more. Other instruments are attached to the head and ears, and may be concealed by the cap, hat, bonnet or hair. For gentlemen, walking sticks and umbrellas of various sizes have powerful sound collectors fitted to them; also dinnerplate holders and field glasses and the inside of the ordinary silk hat," reported the Hawksley Catalogue of Otacoustical Instruments to Aid the Deaf in 1895.

Acoustical fans for the ladies were popular in the 1800s. Shaped like a half-opened fan, they were held behind the ear in lieu of a cupped hand. Some were also fitted with a small ear horn on the side that could be placed by the ear.

Bone conduction fans, or as one brand was named, the "Dentaphone," transmitted sound through the skull or teeth. It was a flat paddle fitted with a diaphragm. Sound was transmitted through a wooden piece gripped in the teeth.

Ear trumpets were incorporated into the designs of acoustic chairs. Some horns were hidden; other chairs used the armrests to gather sound and convey it by tube. Acoustic thrones were also created for royalty. One such was designed by F.C. Rein for King John VI (aka, King Goa VI) of Portugal. The armrests were hollowed out and carved in the shape of lions' heads. Those visiting the king were required to kneel before him so they spoke into the heads. Sound was then carried by a tube in the back of the chair.

Hearing devices were also disguised to be hidden under beards, in tabletop vases, as canteens, walking canes, in a long handle for opera glasses, as headbands hidden under hats, scarves, and wigs and as jewelry.

Fortunately, with the progress of technology and with the acceptance of the loss of hearing, elaborate hiding places for hearing aids were no longer needed.