Pulvermacher's Electric Belts
Fr. Dominick O'Grady and Mollie Gilmartin: A Revisit, Pt. 1
Earlier this month I was inspired by a Substack note to go check out the movie Sinners in the theater. The movie is set in Mississippi in the 1930’s. While the movie's primary focus was on African American characters, it incorporated Chinese American, Native American and Irish American characters into the story. I absolutely loved the movie, especially the music. While watching the historic Irish characters, I felt nostalgic for The Silent Sod story I had previously written about Fr. Dominick O’Grady and Mollie Gilmartin. I decided to revisit and look more into a couple of parts of their story: the electric belt company that Mollie worked for at the time of her death and the future whereabouts of Fr. O’Grady after he escaped Longview Mental Hospital in Cincinnati.
Mollie’s Job
In newspaper articles regarding Mollie’s murder, her job was described as a clerk at the Pulvermacher Belt Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mollie was traveling to her job via streetcar at the time of her death.
In the letters written between Mollie and Fr. O’Grady published in The Cincinnati Enquirer, Mollie relayed how she came upon the job. She told the woman she was staying with, Mrs. Tibbles, that if she was not able to find work she would have to leave, and then Mrs. Tibbles connected her with the company her daughter worked for. At one point, Mollie stated that Mrs. Tibbles had forced her and the daughter to stay home from work due to concerns about Fr. O’Grady’s behavior, but at some point, Mollie was able to go back to work and unfortunately it was during the commute to the factory that she met her demise at the hands of Fr. O’Grady.
Pulvermacher’s Electric Belts and Bands
At the one year anniversary party for The Silent Sod, we shared some entertaining medical advertisements in historic newspapers. When I came across the job that Mollie had at the electric belt company, I realized that Mollie spent her last days working in one of these fascinating medical companies. I thought it would be interesting to learn a bit more about the place.
Isaac Lewis Pulvermacher first published the details of his electric chain in the 1850’s in German and then came to Britain and Scotland to show it to others. The chain would be wrapped on parts of a person’s body for long periods of times to use electrotherapy to supposedly heal different ailments. The chain became patented in the United States in the 1850’s and then developed into a belt that could be worn at all times. The company moved its headquarters to the location that Mollie worked at in Cincinnati, Ohio, in the 1850’s and became very popular in the United States. It was popular enough to be understood in everyday conversations and referenced in the novel Madame Bovary. The manufacturing of electric belts was a competitive market until their use dwindled in the 1920’s.
Testimonials for Pulvermacher’s Belt
I came across a brochure for Pulvermacher’s Electric Belt and Bands which included some entertaining testimonials for the product:
Testimonial for cure of impotency- “Kansas, Tenn., July 19, 1886. Pulvermacher Galvanic Co. Gentlemen:--This is to certify that eight years ago, when I applied to you for treatment, I was broken down in health, both mind and body, and what was worse, I was almost without hope of ever finding relief. But, thanks to your wonderful appliances, after the lapse of seven or eight years of married life, I am still a man, sexually and otherwise, and consequently happy. I pen these few lines with a sincere desire to benefit poor fellow-mortals, and I gladly answer by letter. I remain, yours truly, S.B.”
Testimonial for cure of Female Complaint, General Debility, etc.- “Holyoke, Mass. March 31, 1881. Pulvermacher Galvanic Co. Gentlemen; The Combined Bands for my wife were duly received. She is satisfied at this time that they are doing her great good; the unnatural enlargement of stomach and abdomen is decreasing, and her whole general health is better. When she first used the appliances she could not walk one mile without being tired out and compelled to lie down. Last week she walked around here for two hours; went to Springfield, and went around there two or more hours, and returned feeling perfectly satisfied with herself, and that the Bands did the work. Truly yours, D.F.C.”
Testimonial for cure of kidney disease- “Hoboken, N.J., October 24, 1880. Pulvermacher Galvanic O. Dear Sirs: This past summer I was troubled with kidney disease of the severest kind and paid more than $300 for doctors’ and medicine bills, without being relieved of that fearful sickness. I had given up all hope of ever being cured, when by chance I met a friend who recommended your electric belt. I tried it, and am today as healthy as I ever was. I cheerfully recommend your electric belt to all my friends and the public generally. Any one asking for reference you can send to me, and I will willingly give full information as to the good your electric belt has done to my friends and me. Respectfully yours, R. Hanggi, No. 195 Washington St., Hoboken, N.J.”
Conclusions
A couple of things interested me about these testimonials. I used to be employed in the dialysis field for several years as a social worker. Dialysis provides life saving treatment to those with end stage kidney disease, so I immediately became interested in how long the person referencing kidney disease survived after the testimonial. I was able to find the man, Joseph R. Hanggi, who died in 1882 in Hoboken, New Jersey, two years after providing his testimonial. It seems that the idea of having this curative belt gave him hope despite his dismal prognosis. For him to have survived with the referenced severe kidney disease for two years until the age of fifty given the medical advances of the time does seem to have been fortunate.
It would be interesting to know what the opinion was of the woman whose husband provided testimonial on her behalf. I wonder if she was truly suffering any health issues or if she might have been dealing with the negative judgement of her husband for physical changes she experienced with aging. On the other hand, perhaps she had been hoping for this remedy as well. It seems that the idea of the belt being a remedy motivated her to take the steps to improve her health either way.
Near the end of her life, Mollie was dealing with anxiety from the scandal with Fr. O'Grady and a physical condition she alluded to in her letters. She likely empathized with the clients of the Pulvermacher Belt Company whom she helped. While the electric belt method, given our modern understanding of medicine and technology, is laughable, perhaps these clients were provided what may be the best remedy of all: hope.
Next week I will take a closer look at what happened to Fr. O’Grady after his escape from Longview Insane Asylum.
Sources:
New Jersey, U.S. Death and Burials Index, 1978-1971, Ancestry.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulvermacher%27s_chain
Pulvermacher Galvanic Company. Pulvermacher's electric belts &c. : self-applicable for the cure of nervous and chronic diseases without medicine, available on Archive.org
“Ghastly: A Priest’s Awful Crime,” The Cincinnati Enquirer, April 26, 1894.
I wonder if Mollie ever used the electric belt herself.
My favorite line, "I am still a man" lol.