Electric Baths
In the 1800s and early 1900s, electricity was a cutting-edge mystery—and doctors couldn’t resist experimenting with it. “Electric baths” became a fad for treating everything from depression to sexual dysfunction. Patients were placed in water-filled tubs rigged with electric currents or fitted with metallic electrodes while their bodies were zapped with jolts of energy.
While mild electrotherapy can be useful in controlled contexts today, vintage electric baths often used dangerously high voltages and had no safety standards. People suffered burns, seizures, and in some cases, electrocution. Yet many kept coming back for more, convinced the tingling was a sign of healing. It was less a medical breakthrough and more a shocking way to fry your nerves in the name of health.
