Electrology History

Hair Removal Methods Professional Electrolysis
#1

Dee … “Mother Ship” is a perfect term for the Kree “Radio-Matic.”

1923 is credited as the year thermolysis was introduced for hair removal. Interestingly, I have been able to document the removal of telangiectasia (by electrologists) as far back as 1925. Yes, schools taught this along with hair removal!

I owned three Kree units, but not this one. This is a pre-WWII unit … and was the ultimate state-of-the-art machine at the time. Based in NYC and eventually guided by Garo Artinian, the machine is stunning in what it’s still telling us about the times.

First, the machine is gigantic and weighs 30 pounds (13.6 kilos). Inside, there is very little to the electronics, but in those days “big” meant impressive. (The unit looked like many medical machines at the time.) But what is noteworthy is the term “Radio-Matic” and “Radiation!”

It’s almost impossible for us to imagine a world without instant communication, but until the advent of wireless/radio, there was virtually no communication. “Radio” was bigger than anything we can imagine today. The term was put on almost everything … for example “Radio City Music Hall” and “RKO Radio movies.” (Of course in this case “radio” fit perfectly, because the current used is “radio frequency” or RF.

But that term RADIATION?

It’s hard to imagine, but in the early pre-war “Atomic Age” everything dealing with radiation was thought to be beneficial. Doctors would recommend the placement of radium pellets under your bed to help you sleep. X-ray producing Fluoroscopes were in many shoe stores so kids could look at the bones in their feet (the machines were ON all day long … with no lead shielding!) And, horribly … X-ray was used for permanent hair removal until the mid-1950s! (Every person that had X-ray hair removal died of cancer … it took 30 to 40 years to develop this disease: usually thyroid cancer.)

Indeed, that’s how Art Hinkel and Henry St. Pierre met each other: Hinkel was a very young technician at General Electric (in the X-ray department) and Henry was fiddling with X-ray hair removal in San Francisco.

Anyway (this is getting too long) … the term “RADIATION” was used to capitalize on the idea of “good modern atomic radiation!” The term was changed in the mid-1950s to “OUTPUT!”

I plan to do more research on Kree, but from my own experience, Kree used to advertise the following …

“Come visit New York and go home with a new career!” (The Kree Institute had a 90-hour program of electrolysis training.)

Kree dominated electrology for decades and yes; this is the “Mother Ship!”


#2

I have one of those and had no idea it was that old.

#3

(I had one too Mike … mine was made in the 1950s … and I bought a new one in 1976! SAME design!)

Another interesting tid-bit.

Until WWII the FCC did not regulate RF producing machines. From an electrologist living at the time, a Nazi spy was using a powered-up thermolysis unit to communicate with off-shore U-boats.

Indeed, few American know that Germany sunk MANY ships off the East coast … this “secret naval war” was supressed so the American public would not be in total panic. Anyway, it was because of this that the FCC started regulating “approved” frequencies.

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#4

(My story got clipped out):

German spies would communicate (Morse code), when US merchant ships (loaded with materials for England) would leave American ports. We lost a lot of ships!

http://www.sunkenshipsouterbanks.com/ships_1942.html

Indeed, most Americans do not know of this intense “secret” naval war. I suppose had Americans panicked, we might have interned American Germans … as we did with American Japanese on the East coast? (Probably not.)

When I started teaching in Holland (1980s) Hinkel adapted their units for “blend.” He discovered that these units were still using “the better HF output” of 1.9 megahertz! He was pleased to see this …

#5

I made a few errors in the above posts. When I do the video, everything will be well edited. (For example: I said “East Coast” and it should be “West Coast.”

Doing things in a hurry means … errors!

#6

If any one has seen the movie “The Imitation Game”, you will come away knowing that a gay man in England was the inventor of the first computer that broke the Enigma machine code used by the Germans to sink ships in WWII. He saved 14 million lives by his genius! It was unlawful to be a homosexual in England until 1967. Alan Turing was convicted for the crime of being a homosexual and eventually committed suicide.

This is a most facinating thread. Keep it coming, Michael. Makes me wish I was an electrical engineer so I could understand it better.

#7

I’ve never opened it up. Do you think there might be a clue inside of it’s manufacture date ?

#8

Hey Mike … I’m going to open mine too. I’m going NUTS … opening up these boxes is like Christmas for me!

#9

Kree Combination

This unit (not sure of the date yet) had both HF-thermolysis and the DC-multiple needle. The DC armature fits in the holder in the front (missing a part). Here’s a view of the internal electronics. You can see the transformer and even the coil (I think) with vacuum tubes. Not much to these early units. But they worked well enough to earn “permanent hair removal” status!


#10

Yes! I see a vacuum tube!

How many epilators did you receive? Are they all Kree’s?

#11

Today’s offering is the little “Mahler DC Unit.”

I do not know the date of this device and think this might have been a “home unit?” Looks like it’s battery powered (I did not open it yet). I think the 1 - 10 outlets for the (negative) DC might be a way to control the current levels? (I don’t think this is a multiple needle.) The unit is really well-built and has a very nice “quality feel” to it. This little baby will still be around when all the “One-Touches” are in the land-fill!

The Mahler company changed it’s name to “Instantron” … the company is thriving and producing great units! I will talk to Skip Mahler about this unit to find out more details. Skip, by the way, is a “damn nice guy!”

#12

Dee … 17 units in all. One every day?

#13

I’ll vouch for Skip! You can’t find any finer than him! He does have a great epilator and his personal service is fantastic after you buy it. I got to actually touch his grandfathers unit when he spoke at a seminar in Cleveland. I need to hunt for the pictures. It was different from what I see here, I believe ?

#14

Hinkel Model F

Few people know that Hinkel also produced a “thermolysis only” unit. This one was both manually and automatically controlled. Hinkel (Arroway Labs) employed many electrologists in department stores… as was common in those days (1940s - 1970s).

Hinkel told me that he experimented: blend vs. thermolysis. His conclusion was that his “best operators got great results no matter the modality.” Thus, results depended on operator skill … not the machine they were using! For Hinkel, and me, there never was a “modality war.”

#15

Dee, your comment got me laughing … and I will probably be laughing the whole day!

“[You] got to touch his grandfather’s unit!”

You naughty girl you!

#16

DANIEL JACOBUS MAHLER – An authority in dermatology and manager of the D. J. Mahler Company’s College of Dermatology and Laboratory, the largest in New England, Mr. Mahler is best known among those who constitute his vast army of patrons or hearers, and he lectures in all parts of the United States, his reputation extending also to foreign lands. He is a son of Jacob Mahler, a native of Wolfstein, in the Rhine Palatinate (Rhienpfalz), a town of France in the department of Mt. Tonnere, forty-three miles northwest from Manheim, ceded to France in 1801, restored to Germany in 1814. Jacob Mahler came to the United States, settled at Hackensack, N. H., and died at Providence, R. I., in April, 1890. He was twice drafted in the Civil War, the first time rejected on account of his being near-sighted, but drafted later, but saw no service, peace being declared. He married Anna Elizabeth Filler, daughter of Frederick and Anna Katherine (Erbe) Filler, a native of Saxony.

Daniel J. Mahler was born in Hackensack, Bergen Country, New Jersey, October 7, 1860, and until 1873, studied there under private teachers. In that year he came to Providence, R. I., and in 1880 began business under the firm name of D. J. Mahler Company, at No. 331 Westminster street, later moving to No. 249 1/2 Westminster street, where he began the practice of dermatology. During the years 1885-86-87 he pursued scientific courses of study under private tutors of Brown University. In 1900 he removed his business to No. 131 Mathewson street, and on October 18, 1902, incorporated as the D. J. Mahler Corporation, under the laws of the State of Maine, capital $100,000, D. J. Mahler, president. Later the company purchased the estate at Nos. 3124-64 Pawtucket avenue, East Providence, R. I., transformed the residence into a College of Dermatology, and built a commodious laboratory, where all the specialties of the Mahler Company are compounded. Progress has marked each year of Mr. Mahler’s history, and through his creative genius new products have been evolved which have won leading place in toilet preparations. He is a dermatologist and hair specialist of a quarter of a century fame, and has given exhibitions and demonstrations of his skill in the principal cities of the United States. His knowledge has been greatly increased through travel, and when freed from business care he finds pleasure in art and literature. He has risen to a strong position in the business world, and is highly regarded professionally and socially. His writings, lectures, electrical devices and proprietary beautifying preparations are greatly sought after, as is his treatise ‘Consiets de Beaute’. He is a member of Redwood Lodge, No. 14, Free and Accepted Masons; Providence Lodge, No. 14, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks; King Philip Lodge, No. 1, Improved Order of Red Men; and Providence Athletic Club.

Mr. Mahler married Teodelinda Machada, born in the Azores, but a resident of Pawtucket since childhood. Children: Daniel Jason, Phyllis Maybelle, and Arthur Young. The family home is a beautiful one on Pawtucket avenue, East Providence, R. I.

NOTE: This was written before 1920, when Harold C. Mahler Sr. was born. There was a daughter born after Harold, named Geneveve, who died in infancy.

#17

GREAT Jossie … thanks for adding to this!

“We sure IS having fun, ain’t we!”

#18

I touched his unit in 2010! Lucky me, Michael!

#19

Paul Kree Multiple-needle

Not sure of the exact date of this, but certainly the oldest in the lot … probably at least 100 years old. Paul Kree is credited with inventing the multiple-needle DC device and this unit is patented with his name (pre-dating the “Kree company”).

This was battery powered (no battery in the unit), with six needle cords. The client put her fingers in the tiny cup that contained salt water. The operator would start with, say, 0.2 milliamperes … insert ONE needle. When the second needle was inserted, she would turn up the current to 0.4 milliamperes, and so on. This would “spread” the current and supposedly all needles would conduct the same 0.2 mA.

However, if you inserted into a larger/more moist (conductive) follicle, you would get more current flow into that follicle … so it could be very “exciting.” (Modern “computer controlled” units control current to each individual needle.)

Amazingly, such skilled operators as Mary Yamaki (Los Angeles) uses two machines and 32 needles at a time! I’m planning on filming Mary for my “electrolysis” video. She has already said “yes!”


#20

Yes it is. Thank you for this wonderful virtual journey through the past. I am one of those who believe that you have to know the events of the past to better understand our present, and thus ensure an even better future for others.

The text above was a pleasant surprise that Mr. Skip Mahler left on my facebook wall. :slight_smile:

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