Dry-Cell Battery [Eveready]
Maker and role
Eveready, Manufacturer
National Carbon Company, Producer
See full details
Object detail
Accession number
1982.661.1
Description
A square dry cell Eveready battery fitted with 2 terminals on the top as well as an orange and blue Overbeck's label. Covered with light green cardboard.
Brief History
This ‘Overbeck’s Life Cell’ battery was made by Eveready. It is a four-volt dry cell battery and was made especially for an electrotherapy machine called the Overbeck Rejuvenator.
Otto Christoph Joseph Gerhardt Ludwig Overbeck (1860-1937) was born in London. He studied chemistry at University College London, and shortly afterwards moved to Grimsby, where he worked as the scientific director of the well-known local brewing firm, Hewitt Brothers. During his time in Grimsby, Overbeck developed and patented a number of devices which related to the brewing process.
Overbeck began to suffer from ill health in the late 1910s. His motivation for trying electrotherapy is unclear – few of his personal records survive – but he later claimed that as early as 1893 he began to experiment by connecting low-power batteries with brass wire and affixing these to his skin.
The Overbeck Rejuvenator was launched in 1925 and was aimed specifically at non-specialist, lay users. A number of different, increasingly complex, versions were produced during Overbeck’s own lifetime. The original model consisted of three different pairs of electrodes: electric body combs (for which Overbeck had a patent) and two kinds of cylindrical tubes. These were all a similar size, made from the same materials and connected to a large, custom-made battery, supplied in a separate case. Replacement batteries should, Overbeck warned, only be sought from his company. He furthered the promise of the Rejuvenator by branding the batteries, manufactured specially by the Eveready Company, as ‘Life Cells’.
Overbeck claimed that the Rejuvenator could treat a broad range of ailments without the need to visit a medical practitioner. Amongst these were asthma, bronchitis, deafness, gout, insomnia, neuritis, paralysis agitans, psoriasis, rheumatism and sciatica.
In New Zealand Overbeck Rejuvenators were available from Overbeck Distributors, 6th floor, Cooke’s Buildings, Queen Street, Auckland. After his death, two friends established the Overbeck Rejuvenator Company, which continued to supply replacement parts for Rejuvenators until the mid-1950s.
Otto Christoph Joseph Gerhardt Ludwig Overbeck (1860-1937) was born in London. He studied chemistry at University College London, and shortly afterwards moved to Grimsby, where he worked as the scientific director of the well-known local brewing firm, Hewitt Brothers. During his time in Grimsby, Overbeck developed and patented a number of devices which related to the brewing process.
Overbeck began to suffer from ill health in the late 1910s. His motivation for trying electrotherapy is unclear – few of his personal records survive – but he later claimed that as early as 1893 he began to experiment by connecting low-power batteries with brass wire and affixing these to his skin.
The Overbeck Rejuvenator was launched in 1925 and was aimed specifically at non-specialist, lay users. A number of different, increasingly complex, versions were produced during Overbeck’s own lifetime. The original model consisted of three different pairs of electrodes: electric body combs (for which Overbeck had a patent) and two kinds of cylindrical tubes. These were all a similar size, made from the same materials and connected to a large, custom-made battery, supplied in a separate case. Replacement batteries should, Overbeck warned, only be sought from his company. He furthered the promise of the Rejuvenator by branding the batteries, manufactured specially by the Eveready Company, as ‘Life Cells’.
Overbeck claimed that the Rejuvenator could treat a broad range of ailments without the need to visit a medical practitioner. Amongst these were asthma, bronchitis, deafness, gout, insomnia, neuritis, paralysis agitans, psoriasis, rheumatism and sciatica.
In New Zealand Overbeck Rejuvenators were available from Overbeck Distributors, 6th floor, Cooke’s Buildings, Queen Street, Auckland. After his death, two friends established the Overbeck Rejuvenator Company, which continued to supply replacement parts for Rejuvenators until the mid-1950s.
Marks
Overbeck's
Life Cell
Everready Dry Battery Printed
Eveready / Trade-Mark / Dry Battery / C26 / A / National Carbon / Product / Made in New Zealand Label
Special type / Obtainable only from Overbeck Offices / Overbeck's / Battery Certificate / Tested and examined under Voltmeter and Certified / Fully Charged / Machine No. .. / Date: Nov .. 1955 / Life Cell / Registered / Trade Mark / VCJL Overbeck Label
Life Cell
Everready Dry Battery Printed
Eveready / Trade-Mark / Dry Battery / C26 / A / National Carbon / Product / Made in New Zealand Label
Special type / Obtainable only from Overbeck Offices / Overbeck's / Battery Certificate / Tested and examined under Voltmeter and Certified / Fully Charged / Machine No. .. / Date: Nov .. 1955 / Life Cell / Registered / Trade Mark / VCJL Overbeck Label
Media/Materials
Credit Line
Eveready et al. Dry-Cell Battery [Eveready], 1982.661.1. The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT).
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