Acousticon Carbon Church Aid (Black leatherette case) The Acousticon Carbon Church Aid was manufactured from around 1905 and up through the 1920s by the General Acoustic Company, which became Dictograph Products, Inc. of New York, NY in 1918. This version was covered in black leatherette, and likely dates from around 1920 to 1925. In 1927, a complete 6-person system cost the grand total of $220.00!
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| View of the front of the Acousticon Carbon Church Aid showing the four black carbon microphones. Each microphone was 3¼" in diameter. Constructed of wood and covered with black leatherette, the case measured 16" by 4½" and was 2" deep. The unit weighed 2 pounds. This carbon microphone box was placed on the pulpit. Four "Gray Label" 1½ volt dry cells powered this "hearing aid". |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Close-up view of the two center microphones showing the pattern of the microphone grill and the Acousticon name. Between the two center microphones (top center) is the twist on-off switch.
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| Close-up view of a later version of this same Acousticon Church Aid, again showing the two center microphones, but notice that the on-off switch is now a lever switch rather than a rotary one. This lever switch was used on Acousticon Church Aids by 1926. This Church Aid dates about 1927 or 1928. Apart from the switch, these two Church Aids appear identical.
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| Left end view of the microphone box of the Acousticon Carbon Church Aid showing the two pin sockets. There are identical pin sockets on each end of the box. One set was for the wires going to the various volume controls/earphone jacks and the other set was for connecting the batteries to the microphone box. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Right end view of the microphone box of the Acousticon Carbon Church Aid showing the other two pin sockets. These pin sockets consist of one large and one small socket each—and probably were used interchangeably because of the very nature of carbon hearing devices since the batteries, earphones and microphones are all hooked in series with each other.
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| The label, located on the right end of the microphone box of the Acousticon Carbon Church Aid showing the serial number (105468 K). |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| The label, located on the right end of the microphone box of a later version of the Acousticon Carbon Church Aid shown above. Notice the serial number is now 160787 K. This dates this Church Aid as later than May of 1926 since the serial number at that time was 153738 M. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| To hear with this system, a hard of hearing person picked up the earphone lorgnette, extended the handle to a comfortable length and held it up to one ear. The handle extended from 4" to 9¼". The ear phone plugged into a volume control (bottom left) on the back of the pew in front of you. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Close up of the carbon earphone with the handle collapsed. The earphone was 2" in diameter. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Close up of the back of the carbon earphone. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| The removable collapsible handle slid into a slot on the back of the earphone (shown removed). |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| View showing the tip of the handle being inserted into the slot in the back of the earphone. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Close-up view of the back of the earphone showing the handle fully inserted. Notice the hole in the end of the handle (right side) so you could hang the earphone on a hook on the pew in front of you when not using it. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Close up of the pins (plugs) at the end of the earphone cord. These plugged into the appropriate holes in the volume control that was mounted on the back of the pew in front of you. Note that the pins were of different sizes to prevent plugging them in the wrong holes, thus preserving the correct polarity. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Close-up view of the volume control of the Acousticon Church Model carbon assistive device. This volume control was mounted on the back of the pew in front of you. It was 2" in diameter and ¾" thick. The earphone pins plugged into the two holes (top left and right). This was a five position volume control shown in the medium position. Louder was the two positions to the left and softer was the two positions to the right. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Side view of the volume control showing the groove in the bottom where the wire from the microphone on the pulpit connected to the volume control. Four to six of these volume control units were typically connected to the microphone. The maximum the system could handle was 8 receivers. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Picture taken from an Acousticon instruction manual showing a similar Acousticon Church assistive device and all its parts. Note the battery case (top center) containing 4 standard "Gray Label" dry cells. A set of batteries was supposed to last from 6 to 12 months of use. Also, notice the coil of wire (upper right) that connected the microphone box on the pulpit to the volume controls on the backs of the pews—usually in the first or second row of pews. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Acousticon put out an informational booklet for their Silver Anniversary in 1927, showing how to use the church aid, giving testimonials, instructions for setting it up and costs, etc. Click here to read this 24 page interesting booklet entitled "For the Love of Mankind".
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