Concealed Hearing Devices of the 20th Century

DEAFNESS IN DISGUISE

Part 6

Concealed Hearing Devices of the 20th Century

The influence of Hollywood was at its apex in the 1950s and advertising emphasized glamour and style. Celebrities were used to tout the uses of hearing aids and many models of hearing aids reflect the Hollywood theme such as "Hollywood Veri-Small" and "Starlet." Advertisers' claims were limitless. "You look younger-you feel younger…helps erase that frown which comes from concentrating…permits a relaxed posture-ends that forward thrust of the head, that tendency to sit on the edge of your chair…makes school marks better, your job safer, your domestic life happier, your children better behaved."

Paravox ad with Bob Hope © CID - St. Louis

Starlet hearing aid ad © Courtesy of Radioear (In business since 1924)

The development of the transistor enabled once-cumbersome hearing aids to be streamlined into single units practical for everyday use. What could be more practical than incorporating a hearing aid-or two-into eyeglasses? The first eyeglass model was introduced in the United States in 1953. By 1959, they accounted for approximately 50% of the market.

© Courtesy of Beltone Electronics Corporation

In 1953, the hearing aid was the first commercially made product to employ the transistor. The transistor radio was not available to the public until 1954.

In-the-ear hearing aid © Eriksholm Collection-Oticon A/S

The behind-the-ear hearing aid (BTE), first introduced in the late 1950s, was an ideal means of concealing a hearing aid-it was worn discreetly behind the ear and underneath the hair, with a custom made earmold. The BTE incorporated all components of a hearing aid into a single, streamlined unit including the batteries. Within a few years of the introduction of the BTE, the BTE overtook the eyeglass hearing aid model in hearing aid sales in the United States.

In-the-ear hearing aids (ITE) were introduced in the 1960s and even smaller completely-in-the-canal (ITC) hearing aids entered the market in the early 1980s. These models provided more opportunity for concealment with acoustic benefit for many users.

Radio Hearing Aid
One ingenious design of a camouflaged hearing aid that was possible with the development of the transistor was a radio. As seen here in the photo, a hearing aid is disguised as an ordinary radio.

BTE
Examples of behind-the-ear hearing aids.

ITE
Examples of in-the-ear hearing aids.