The hearing aids we are familiar with today are both tiny and mighty, but they weren’t always that way. So...

How Did We Get Hear?

Historic Hearing Devices, 1800-2000

Contemporary hearing aids are the product of hundreds of years of scientific and technological development.

This exhibit highlights the long history of hearing devices, from conversation tubes to transistors. The devices, advertisements, and illustrations featured are all from collections at Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives and Rare Books.

The devices showcase the advancements in science and technology that make today’s hearing aids so small and effective. They also demonstrate some of the problematic attitudes toward deafness that, in part, influenced their miniaturization and development.