This image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
LicenseThis image is released under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
Licence
License this image for commercial use at Science and Society Picture Library
License
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Science Museum Group Collection
© The Board of Trustees of the Science Museum
Klein's electric hairbrush, late 1890s, in leather-cloth case with velvet lining
In the 1880s across Britain, France and the USA devices flooded the market all claiming that the answer to health was electricity. Charles Klein, a hairdresser, based in London, developed this hairbrush which gave gentle electric shocks to the scalp, restoring the electric flow in the body, especially to the blood and the nerves. The outer is made of bristles while the centre is a series of metal rods. The wire was connected to a potassium bi-chromide and sulphuric acid battery, also of Klein's invention.
Klein was so enamoured with the possibilities of electricity he fitted his shop with electric lamps, telephones, bells and alarms.
Details
- Category:
- Therapeutics
- Collection:
- Sir Henry Wellcome's Museum Collection
- Object Number:
- A199016
- Materials:
- case,: black leathercloth, red velvet, brush frame: ebony, fittings: ebony and nickel-plated brass, bristles: either natural hair or rubber and metal and metal connectors
- Measurements:
-
brush: 37 mm x 240 mm x 90 mm, ,
box (closed): 60 mm x 256 mm x 110 mm, .46 kg
- type:
- hairbrushes
- credit:
- Loan, Wellcome Trust
