Wetaskiwin District Heritage Museum Centre & City of Wetaskiwin Archives

This week the Heritage Museum is lighting it up with this electrotherapy machine produced in 1854. The world was intrigued with electrotherapy and its possibilities when it was created. It was believed that these machines could help cure many diseases, going as far as to say they could cure cancer. Davis and Kidder’s company created this specific machine, and it was advertised as an electric machine for nervous diseases. Its manufacturer was W.H. Burnap Co. This would be the only significant production done by the company. Interestingly, the directions include putting one of the shock handles in your foot to help with your feet. This machine was bought at an auction by Ferdinand Kaiser in the 1970s. Kaiser used it to help with his arthritis. He often referred to it as the “quack Doctor.” Lee Kaiser, his son, got the item from him and donated it to the museum this past summer. Lee had lived in Wetaskiwin for several years before presenting it.