Electric shower, 1800-1900
Chenyixue Ma (University of Groningen )
Electric shower, 1800-1900, reproduction. (Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, Leiden)
Imagine standing below a shower head, and what runs out is not water, but electricity. When in use, the device is connected to an electrostatic generator and hung with the rods pointing downwards. Standing below, you will feel a warm, electric current running down from the top of your head. Electric showers were used in the mid-18th and 19th centuries as a cutting-edge medical treatment. It was believed to cure all diseases and enhance the power of the mind. Electric showers are no longer in use today, but its modern equivalents, such as this beauty device that proclaims to use “galvanization” (a synonym of electrotherapy) to lift the skin, remain popular in our daily life.