When we think of hearing aids today, a certain set of images readily come to mind. Maybe it’s an oversized, beige-colored hearing aid that your grandma wears, or it’s a colorful, high-tech device that your child wears. Or maybe, it’s the cochlear implant you noticed on the man at the grocery story. Looking at the history of hearing aids, we’ve come a long way in technology over the years.
This article briefly summaries some of the history of hearing aids.
The Diverse History of Hearing Aids
When asked about the history of hearing aids, people might automatically think of those large cumbersome ’60s and ’70s transistor hearing aids worn on either a pocket clip or a neck cord. Or maybe that classic aid, the ear trumpet, comes to mind.
Ear trumpets have been featured in so many movies, cartoons, and caricatures of deaf people that they have become something of an archetypal way to portray hearing loss.
The history of hearing aids is surprisingly diverse. In fact, it can be considered something of a scientific art form. There is no historical record as to how far back in history hearing devices stretch. We do know however, that there were originally two different types of hearing devices. One was for the use of deaf people. Another kind was used to hear over great distances, such as across hunting fields during battles or at sea.
“The history of hearing aids is surprisingly diverse.”
The Ancient World
In his famous literary work The Iliad, Homer mentions a speaking trumpet (850 B.C.E). The record shows that Alexander the Great made use of a suspended horn used to address huntsmen in large gatherings. The description of Alexander’s speaking horn is interesting because it is not unlike an ear trumpet, albeit on a larger scale. It was made using two horns joined together in a circle. These were twisted and had a single sound outlet tube. The opening was made into the shape of a bell to receive the sound.
Also in the ancient world, the use of sound was utilized in the construction of certain prisons, like the type known as The Dome of Dionysius. This was highlighted in Richard Strauss’s opera Salome. Prisoners were housed in dungeons with domed ceilings. Anything spoken would be fed up to the listeners above. Prior to the Christian Era, ancient Greeks used large seashells as aids to hearing.
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