Vigo County Historical Society

Hearing devices were once very large

A tiny hearing aid worn in someone’s ear today is barely noticeable. However, 150 years ago hearing impairments would have been much more obvious to the public.

If an individual used a device similar to the one pictured, there would be no doubt that a problem existed.

The tin ear trumpet, circa 1820, works in a simple way. Sound pressure waves enter through holes in the large bell end of the trumpet. As the sound waves travel into and through the narrower tube, they are condensed into smaller and smaller waves, increasing the sound wave pressure into the ear.

The degree of pressure increase depends only on the relative sizes of the large and small openings.

While the ear trumpet in the museum’s collection looks simple, it is actually constructed of eight separate pieces of tin soldered together, possibly to allow ease of transport.

With the invention of the first electronic aid around 1900 (the results of Alexander Graham Bell’s experiments in developing the telephone), followed closely by further refinements in hearing aid methods, the ear trumpet probably passed out of common use by the 1920s.

The ear trumpet was originally owned by Mary E. Stader and was donated to the museum by her granddaughter, Mrs. C.E. Rippetoe, in 1961. When the Vigo County Historical Museum reopens in February, the trumpet can be seen in the medical case on the lower floor.