page_title: Pulvermacher's chain
section_title: Competition and decline
hierarchical_section_title: Pulvermacher's chain / Competition and decline
caption_attribution_description: Engraving and text: advertisement for the 'Boston Electric Belt'. Wellcome Images Keywords: ADVERTISEMENT; boston electric belt; Quackery; Advertisements
context_page_description: The Pulvermacher chain, or in full as it was sold the Pulvermacher hydro-electric chain, was a type of voltaic battery sold in the second half of the 19th century for medical applications. Its chief market was amongst the numerous quack practitioners who were taking advantage of the popularity of the relatively new treatment of electrotherapy, or "electrification" as it was then known. Its unique selling point was its construction of numerous linked cells, rendering it mechanically flexible. A variant intended to be worn wrapped on part of the body for long periods was known as Pulvermacher's galvanic chain or electric belt.
  The Pulvermacher Company attracted a great deal of antagonism from the medical community due to their use of the names of well-known physicians in their advertising without permission. The nature of their business; in selling to charlatans and promoting quack practices also made them unpopular with the medical community. Despite this, the Pulvermacher chain was widely reported as a useful source of electricity for medical and scientific purposes, even amongst the most vocal critics of the Pulvermacher Company.
context_section_description: Pulvermacher patented the chain battery in the US in 1853.  This was soon followed by the wearable chain battery belt, or electric belt.  Electric belts became enormously popular in the US, far more so than in Europe.  This led to the company headquarters being moved to Cincinnati by the 1880s as the Pulvermacher Galvanic Company, but still calling themselves Pulvermacher's of London for the prestige of a European connection.  Early models had to be soaked in vinegar before use as in England, but later on models that worked purely by galvanic action with body sweat were introduced.  Since the device was being sold essentially as a quack cure it was only necessary to generate enough electricity that the wearer could feel it, no matter how slightly, and know that it was working.
  Electric belts were made for every conceivable part of the human anatomy: limbs, abdomen, chest, neck – sometimes all worn at the same time.  Pulvermacher even had a model designed to attach to the male genitals in a special sac which was claimed to cure impotence and erectile dysfunction.  Pulvermacher promoted a theory that loss of "male vigour" in later life was a consequence of masturbation in early life and that a limited supply of semen, which provided the vigour, would run out before time if wasted.  Pulvermacher's device was meant to address this shortcoming.
  Competition was very intense for this lucrative market and the claimed benefits became ever more extravagant.  Amongst Pulvermacher's many competitors in the US were the German Electric Belt Company (actually New York based), Dr Crystal's, Dr. Horn's, Addison's, Edson's, Edison's, Owen's and Heidelberg's.  Edison's was founded by Thomas Edison Junior, whose father was the famous Thomas Edison.  Owen's was originally New York based but expanded across the country until they were put out of business due to fraud.  In Europe too, there were competitors.  The Medical Battery Company of England made a popular belt.  They attempted (unsuccessfully) to sue the  Electrical Review when that paper accused them of quackery in 1892.  The Iona Company, an Oregon-based company founded by Henry Gaylord Wilshire was still selling belts in 1926 and making large profits: $36,000 ($509,000 inflation adjusted) net from 2,445 belts in five months.  By the end of the 1920s the electric belt's popularity had severely declined (but not the public's appetite for other quack electric cures) and the scientific market had long since moved on to better electrical generation technology than chain batteries.
caption: Boston Electric Belt, a competitor
exif: {}