Electreat
notes: label: Description
content: Electrotherapeutic machine with an “Electreat / Relieves Pain / Pat. 6-3-19” inscription. The form was patented in 1919 by Charles W. Kent (b. 1874), of Peoria, Ill., and widely distributed around the country. Federal agents seized several Electreats in 1941; noted that they consisted of flashlight batteries, a small electrical coil and buzzers, and attachments for applying electricity to various parts of the body; and convinced a federal court that the items were misbranded under the auspices of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Another federal court found a discrepancy between the machine and the hype in 1950.
label: Description
content: Ref: Charles W. Kent, “Electric- Massage Machine,” U.S. Patent 1,305,725 (June 3, 1919).
label: Description
content: Electreat Manufacturing Co., Electreat Removes Pain (Peoria, 1919).
label: Description
content: Morris Fishbein, “Medical Hucksters,” The Atlanta Constitution (July 25, 1948), pp. SM16-SM17.
label: Description
content: “Convict Maker of Device Held Noncurative,” Chicago Tribune (Sept. 22, 1950), p. A6.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Peoria
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift from Dr. Eugene E. Myer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.1095.05
label: accession number
content: 1979.1095
label: catalog number
content: 1979.1095.05
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Electrotherapeutic Apparatus, Electreat
label: Object Name
content: electrotherapeutic apparatus
label: Other Terms
content: Electrotherapeutic Apparatus, Electreat; Roller, Electrotherapeutic; Medicine
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 27.7 cm x 4.4 cm; 10 7/8 in x 1 3/4 in