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Concealed Hearing Devices of the 19th Century

At the turn of the 19th century, a new trend emerged in the design of mechanical hearing devices. Clumsy and bulky devices such as ear trumpets and long speaking tubes evolved into devices that could be incorporated into everyday items or worn on the person. Public reaction or perceived reaction of others to wearing a noticeable hearing device likely influenced this trend.

This new trend in design toward concealment may have encouraged more users to wear hearing devices since they were cosmetically or socially acceptable for public use. It was literally a work of art to combine the elements of disguise and functionality in a form that was aesthetically appealing and yet useful for those with mild to moderate hearing loss. These mechanical hearing devices were elaborately crafted, as evidenced by repousse work, engravings, embossing, paint, and intricate grillwork. Some were enameled a flesh tint or color tinted to match one’s hair. Lace, silk, ribbons, and even feathers often adorned these devices to disguise their function. Despite such artful and ingenious attempts, soothing the vanity of the user while providing acoustic benefit was a daunting task indeed.

Acoustic Headbands are the earliest known design of a concealed hearing device. They were considered a beautiful way of camouflaging a hearing device within a hairstyle or hat. The early headbands, called Aurolese Phones, made by F. C. Rein, took various forms including simple and irregularly shaped ovoids, barrels, convoluted shells, and even fluted funnels in patterns resembling open flowers. Other headbands had two sound collectors, one for each ear.

Floral Aurolese Phone This floral Aurolese Phone was made by F. C. Rein about 1802. Over 200 years old, this device still shows its original white and green paint. Despite its fragile appearance and small size, the Aurolese Phone provided an acoustic benefit up to 10 dB over a limited frequency range and was appropriate for a person with a mild hearing loss. View a frequency gain chart for the Aurolese Phone View an Object VR movie of the Aurolese Phone

Barrel Headband Other headband type devices include this “Barrel Pattern” headband made by F. C. Rein, England, about 1845. This headband device is covered with fabric to blend in with a hairstyle or hat.

Auricles from the T. Hawksley & Son catalog	Trumpet Headband This Trumpet headband by F. C. Rein, England, was made about 1850. The metal headband could be worn either on top of the head or around the base of the neck.
	Shell-type Auricle Headband This headband by F. C. Rein was introduced around 1830 and was designed for men. Another London firm, T. Hawksley & Co., manufactured similar shell-shaped devices.

Acoustic Fans were very popular with women in the 19th century. Many such fans were designed to be an elegant way of concealing a hearing device within an everyday object. Several types of acoustic fans were available. Air conduction fans, often made of thin metal and shaped like a partially open fan, were held behind the ear to direct sound into the ear. In some models small trumpets were attached to air conduction fans. One of the most unusual acoustic fans was the bone conduction fan. This fan was a bizarre, yet effective device that used bone conduction to transmit sound. In bone conduction, sound is transmitted to the inner ear via the vibration of the bones in the head, such as the teeth and skull. This contrasts with the usual way that sound is transmitted to the inner ear, namely, through the air.

Air Conduction Fan One common type of acoustic fan had a flat edge that allowed the user to hold the open fan behind the ear using the same principle as a discreetly cupped hand to direct the sound. Although the fan did provide some acoustic benefit, the real purpose was probably to encourage others to speak louder.

Acoustic Fan with Ear Trumpet Some acoustic fans had tiny ear trumpets attached and could be used either open or closed. The Hawksley Catalogue states, “Its power varies according to the size of the instrument which is attached to the fan . . . used with the fan open it gives rather better results . . .”

Acoustic Chairs were a clever example of incorporating a hearing device within an everyday object. Some acoustic chairs conveyed sound through the armrests to a hearing tube discreetly placed on the back of the chair leading to the user’s ear. Other chairs simply incorporated ordinary hearing trumpets within the design of the chair with no effort towards concealment. Acoustic chairs or thrones, popular with members of the royalty during the 18th and 19th centuries, allowed users to maintain the charade of normal hearing, with visitors and courtiers being none the wiser.

British aurist and oculist John Harrison Curtis (1778-1860) established the Royal Dispensary for Diseases of the Ear, the first hospital devoted to ear diseases, in 1816. Curtis was a well-known lecturer in the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the ear and the eye. Several editions of Curtis’ A Treatise on the Physiology and Pathology of the Ear were published. The sixth edition in 1836 included this description of his Acoustic Chair:

“My Acoustic Chair is so constructed, that, by means of additional tubes, &c., the person seated in it may hear distinctly, while sitting perfectly at ease, whatever transpires in any apartment from which the pipes are carried to the chair; being an improved application of the principles of the speaking pipes now in general use. This invention is further valuable, and superior to all other similar contrivances, as it requires no trouble or skill in the use of it; and is so perfectly simple in its application, that a child may employ it with as much facility, and as effectually, as an adult. It is, moreover, a very comfortable and elegant piece of furniture.

This chair is the size of a large library one, and has a high back, to which are affixed two barrels for sound, so constructed as not to appear unsightly, and at the extremity of each barrel is a perforated plate, which collects sound into a paraboloid vase from any part of the room. The instrument thus contrived gathers sound, and impresses it more sensibly by giving to it a small quantity of air. The convex end of the vase serves to reflect the voice, and renders it more distinct. Further, the air enclosed in the tube being also excited by the voice, communicates its action to the ear, which thus receives a stronger impression from the articulated voice, or indeed any other sound. What first induced me to invent this chair was the fatigue I sometimes experienced in talking to deaf persons.”

Curtis further added that his chair had a great advantage in that the person sitting in the chair was not subjected to the “unpleasant and injurious practice” of bad breath from the speaker since the speaker was required to address the person in the chair from the opposite side. Curtis claimed that there were instances on record of “very baneful and injurious effects” resulting from the practice of speaking into the ear, especially where the breath of the speaker was “tainted.” Henry VIII’s frequent indispositions were reportedly attributed to one of his advisors whispering in his ear.

Irish physician William A. McKeown (1844-1904), invented an acoustic chair in the late 1870s. McKeown reasoned that “nine-tenths of a man’s time is spent at home or business; and if during this period I could secure the easy exercise of the function of hearing, the advantage resulting to the deaf would be incalculable.” Home or office furniture, adapted as an acoustic device, would provide the solution. In a 1879 article in The British Medical Journal, McKeown explained how his design allowed for the use of very large tubes, “but it was essential not only to use the large tubes, but have them so arranged that the terminal nozzles should remain in the ears, when introduced, without requiring to be held in place, that they should not press on the ears injuriously, and that the head might be moved without hurting the ears.” The tubes consisted of both rigid and flexible parts in combination. The tubes could be “raised or lowered, shifted backwards and forwards, and revolved so as to admit of the most perfect adjustment.” McKeown’s device enabled deaf persons “to attend to business from which they would be otherwise precluded; for example, a judge on the bench, a lawyer in his chambers, a merchant in his office, may perform their respective duties by aid of an acoustic chair or acoustic writing-table.”

Other unusual hearing aid devices designed to help the deaf appeared during the 19th century. The table vase, beard receptacle, water canteen receptor, and acoustic cane were among such devices. Other devices do not readily fit a particular category, but they all have one thing in common – they were designed to disguise the intended function.

Beard Receptacle The Beard Receptacle is typical of devices designed for men. It was worn with its base resting on the upper part of the chest and its sound collector facing out, hidden under the beard. Also, at least partially concealed, were rubber tubes leading to each ear. The user had to exercise caution so that the device would not be accidentally pulled while in use, hurting the ears. The manufacturer recommended that a scarf be worn to secure the device.

The Hawksley Catalogue states, “These sketches show a new and very powerful form of the bin-aural instrument to be worn beneath the chin and concealed by the beard; or for ladies by a scarf or tie. Springs inside the tube keep them fitted into the ears.”

Hawksley Table Instrument

This black metal table instrument is about twelve inches tall. Built about 1875, by Thomas Hawksley, England, it is intended for use on a table. Flowers or fruit were added to conceal the device’s true nature. A silk covered rubber tube leading to the user’s ear was perhaps concealed with a tablecloth, table runner or napkin. This type of device was also known as a table urn, hearing vase, epergne, table receptor, table instrument or multiple-receptor vase.

In the 19th century, hearing trumpets were built into opera glasses, binoculars and lorgnettes, combining acoustic benefit with vision enhancement in a single design.

© Eriksholm Collection-Oticon A/S Opera Glasses This mechanical trumpet was marketed as an “opera glass lorgnette,” with the trumpet section disguised as the handle.

Opera Glass Patent In a patent application, an inventor of a opera glass hearing device claimed that his device would enable a person to “not only to hear what is going on upon the stage, but also to obtain a good view.” In the 20th century, the concept of combining glasses with hearing devices evolved with the technology. By the early 1960s electronic eyeglass hearing aids accounted for more than half of all hearing aid sales.

Mourning Trumpets
One example of a disguised hearing trumpet was the “mourning trumpet,” aptly named as they were covered with black fabric, leather, lace, and ribbon to blend in with clothing typically worn by women in mourning of a loved one. Many styles and sizes of mourning trumpets were available for women during the 19th century and according to the Hawksley Catalogue, they were “suitable for use in public.”
	Courtesy of the Baldwin Collection, Western Michigan University Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology
	Courtesy of the John Q. Adams Center for the History of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Foundation

A variety of accessories disguising hearing devices were manufactured during the 19th century. Two exquisite examples of accessories or adornments are an artificial concha and a bouquet holder.

Bouquet Holder This ornate, gold plated bouquet holder, made by Thomas Hawksley, London, about 1880, was designed to be worn by a woman on her clothing and concealed with lace, trimming or flowers. The space in the center of the raised dome collected sound and conveyed it to the ear through the rubber tube. View an Object VR movie of the Bouquet Holder

Hawksley catalog Bouquet Holder illustration According to the Hawksley catalog, “This is a pretty device for assisting the best ear in slight cases of deafness. It is attached to the body of the dress, and may be concealed by lace or other trimming, and will contain a few flowers. A very small elastic tube attached to the ear need be the only part apparent. Being especially intended for ladies, although its power varies with its size, it may be made a very useful and elegant acoustic ornament.”

 

Hats were another convenient means of concealing hearing devices. Tiny ear trumpets and listening tubes were concealed within or beneath the hat, with the ear pieces discreetly held in place by attached springs and covered with silk or felt.

Hearing devices using electricity were conceived during the last decades of the 19th century – though none were successfully completed until the first years of the 20th century. Concealed devices, such as the “Magneto-Telephone for Personal Wear,” featured a transmitter disguised as a “badge or other ornament” that could be worn outside of the clothing or concealed in a pocket.