1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,920 Speaker 1: Here's a little quiz for you. Was it Ben Franklin 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: who discovered electricity? Nope, Before him, we were using electricity 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,920 Speaker 1: for thousands of years, including strapping on a battery powered 4 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:16,599 Speaker 1: belt almost two hundred years ago, which made folks feel really, 5 00:00:17,000 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: really good. I'm Patty Steele. That shocking backstory is next. 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:30,560 Speaker 1: We're back with the backstory. So when something feels fabulous, 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:33,720 Speaker 1: we call it electrifying. Right, Well, there was a time 8 00:00:33,720 --> 00:00:37,879 Speaker 1: when folks regularly wrapped these big belts around their bodies, 9 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: which were loaded with early batteries, to pleasurably shocked themselves. 10 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: Back in the day when upscale ladies and guys had 11 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 1: a long, hard day of socializing and roaring industry, followed 12 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: by a slew of late evening dinners and soirees, they 13 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 1: would get ready for a night out by strapping on 14 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: pulver mockers galvanic hydro electric chain belt. Wow, is that 15 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 1: a sexy name? Or what? Made of copper, zinc, wood, 16 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: and of course leather. The belt came with two sponges, 17 00:01:13,720 --> 00:01:19,920 Speaker 1: thirty two pages of instructions complete with testimonials from delighted customers. 18 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,080 Speaker 1: The two and a half pound belt had like a 19 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 1: chain of batteries that sort of looked like a cowboy's 20 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: bullet belt, which you strapped around whatever area needed a 21 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: good jolt. It apparently sent an enjoyable and titillating electric 22 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: current coursing through your body. Pulver Mocker claimed it would 23 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: cure everything and including headaches, anxiety, depression, as well as 24 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: poor digestion, constipation, gout, and interestingly, even a lack of 25 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:54,000 Speaker 1: confidence and sexual desire. In fact, men and women were 26 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:59,960 Speaker 1: equally entranced. Electric belts were made for every conceivable part 27 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: of the human body limbs, tummy, chest, neck, sometimes worn 28 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: all at the same time. That's a look I'd go for. 29 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: Pulvermacher even had a model designed to attach to the 30 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 1: male genitals in a special little sack, which was claimed 31 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: to cure impotence and directile dysfunction. Okay, raise your hand 32 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:22,639 Speaker 1: if you want to sign up to give that one 33 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: a go. Hugely popular in big cities like Paris, London, 34 00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: New York, and Washington, DC. All the society women would 35 00:02:31,440 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: spend their days visiting each other, going to charity events 36 00:02:35,240 --> 00:02:38,160 Speaker 1: at luncheons. Then they would go home, take a nice 37 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: long sleep, then wake up strap on the belt. And 38 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: give themselves some refreshing jilts. Then they were ready for 39 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: the next round of late night festivities, no doubt, with 40 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: beautiful pink cheeks from their adventures with electricity. Men, of course, 41 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,360 Speaker 1: would do the same and apparently feel once again like 42 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: masters of the universe. Isaac Pulvermacher, the Austrian inventor of 43 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: this crazy belt, showed it off at the eighteen fifty 44 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: one World's Fair. He promised it would penetrate every nerve 45 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,799 Speaker 1: in the body with an eighty gage current, making it, 46 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 1: as he called it, the most powerful self electrocuting belt 47 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:26,000 Speaker 1: of its time. Wow, there's a sales pitch. Just want 48 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 1: to electrocute myself? He said? Are you tired, plagued by 49 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: migraines or anxiety? Then the answer is the hydro electric belt. Well, 50 00:03:34,760 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: guess what people went nuts for it? Now here's the thing. 51 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: Turning on the lights and plugging stuff in only started 52 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:44,480 Speaker 1: less than about, I don't know, one hundred and fifty 53 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: years ago. I mean, the very first building to be 54 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: lit by electricity in the US was in New York City, 55 00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: where they flipped on the lights in eighteen eighty three, 56 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: but much earlier, in the late seventeen hundreds. You knew 57 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 1: this one, Ben Franklin, and flew a kite with a 58 00:04:01,360 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: metal key attached during a lightning storm. To of course, 59 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:11,279 Speaker 1: he was lucky he didn't get electrocuted like other early scientists, 60 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: including this German guy who tried the same key and 61 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,360 Speaker 1: kite thing in seventeen fifty three and did not survive 62 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:23,640 Speaker 1: the experiment. Here's a key takeaway in case you're wondering, 63 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,839 Speaker 1: Ben Franklin did not discover electricity. I'm going to say 64 00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 1: that again for you. Ben Franklin did not discover electricity. 65 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:36,120 Speaker 1: Ancient scientists had been fooling with it for more than 66 00:04:36,160 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: one thousand years, maybe a couple thousand years, especially with 67 00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:44,919 Speaker 1: static electricity. Ben just showed the connection between lightning and electricity. 68 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: He felt a spark from that key, and eventually he 69 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 1: was able to collect and store what he called electric 70 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: fire in a thing called a lighton jar that was 71 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:58,039 Speaker 1: basically like an early battery. Now, what do we do 72 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:02,640 Speaker 1: with electricity? In between Ben's batteries and actually plugging stuff 73 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,240 Speaker 1: in well. In addition to the electric belt, there were 74 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: some unique devices that became pretty popular among folks who 75 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:13,000 Speaker 1: could afford them or needed them some would put their 76 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: achy hands, feet and legs into a wooden barrel filled 77 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:21,479 Speaker 1: with water. An electrical charge from a leyden jar would 78 00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,320 Speaker 1: run through the water, giving the patient a little tingly jolt. 79 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 1: Wouldn't want any more than that. Charles Dickens, who apparently 80 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: had a problem with arthritis in his knees, was a 81 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:36,080 Speaker 1: fan both of the electric barrel and also the hydro 82 00:05:36,200 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: electric belt. In fact, one of the very last letters 83 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 1: he ever wrote was to the Pulvermacher Company thanking them 84 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,880 Speaker 1: for the arrival of that belt. Hope that's not what 85 00:05:45,960 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 1: did him in. The batteries were also used in the 86 00:05:51,160 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: brand new telegraph and eventually telephone industries too, But electricity 87 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 1: has been used for all sorts of things going back 88 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: to ancient Roman Greece. The doctor to the Roman Emperor 89 00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: Claudius was just one of the folks who actually used 90 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,920 Speaker 1: the electrical discharges given off by electric rays and eels 91 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:15,600 Speaker 1: to treat everything from migraines to gout to anal problems 92 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: dm I. Ancient Egyptian doctors use the electric nile catfish 93 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,880 Speaker 1: to also treat gout, headaches, arthritis, depression, and nerve pain. 94 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: They'd have patients either stand on the live electric fish, 95 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,919 Speaker 1: or if they had a headache, they would wrap the 96 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:36,240 Speaker 1: fish around the patient's head and the shock would actually 97 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 1: often do the trick. Pretty crazy, right, But what about 98 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,720 Speaker 1: electricity that didn't come from fish. Well, the ancient Greeks 99 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: messed with that too, discovering that amber, when rubbed, attracted particles. 100 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,559 Speaker 1: In fact, the Greek word for amber is electron, which 101 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,720 Speaker 1: is how we got the word electricity. Does it all 102 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,560 Speaker 1: sound a little bit weird, Well, think about this. Today, 103 00:06:58,600 --> 00:07:01,840 Speaker 1: we still use electric shop for all kinds of mental 104 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:06,799 Speaker 1: health issues like bipolar disorder depression. It's also still used 105 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: to treat pain by stimulating the nerves that send pain 106 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,280 Speaker 1: signals to your brain, and it's even used by some 107 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: physical therapists to strengthen muscles and improve blood circulation. So 108 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: it turns out we actually have a lot in common 109 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: with folks who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago. 110 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: Whether you get your feel better jolt while standing on 111 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: a slimy fish, wrapping a weird looking belt around your body, 112 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: or hooked up to fancy modern day electrodes, it seems 113 00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: the motivation is really the same. We all just want 114 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: to feel good, now, how shocking is that I'm Patty Steele. 115 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia and Steel Trap Productions. 116 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our executive producer is Steve 117 00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:05,600 Speaker 1: Goldstein of Amplified Media. We're out with new episodes twice 118 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: a week. Thanks for listening to the Backstory, the pieces 119 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: of history you didn't know you needed to know.