Western Electric Stock Ear Molds The Western Electric Company of Kearny, NJ began making hearing aids around 1923. They applied for a patent for stock ear molds in 1926. This patent was granted in 1929. Stock (or generic) ear molds were designed to fit everyone. The matched pair of stock ear molds shown here were made of hard black rubber. |  | Click picture for larger view | | |   | | | |
| Rear view of a Western Electric stock ear mold. This one shows Patent No. 1733579. Thus it dates from 1929 or the early 1930s. The brass ferrule in the center was for snapping the ear mold on to the post of the receiver.
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| Stock Western Electric hard rubber ear mold (left) and receiver (right). The ear mold snaps on to the post on the receiver. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Stock Western Electric ear mold shown attached to a Western Electric receiver. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Stock ear molds were a generic shape to fit everyone's ears, but since people's ears vary in size, Western Electric made a variety of sizes of stock ear molds. Here are 3 different sized hard rubber stock ear molds. |  | Click picture for larger view | | | |
| Hard rubber stock ear molds weren't necessarily comfortable to wear as each person's ear canals were slightly different in shape, causing pain where there were too tight. To help solve this problem, Western Electric came out with stock soft rubber ear molds that more readily adapted to the different shapes of people's ear canals. Shown here are two matched pairs of Western Electric soft rubber stock ear molds.
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