Radioear Model 840 "Lady America" Eyeglass Hearing Aid

The Radioear Model 840 "Lady America" eyeglass hearing aid was manufactured by the Radioear Corporation of Pennsylvania in 1956.

It weighed a hefty 3.0 oz. (86 g) without the battery.

Radioear hired Peter Muller-Munk (1904-1967), a young German silversmith, formerly of Tiffany & Co. and now an industrial designer, to come up with a modern design for eyeglass hearing aids. (Radioear was one of Peter's early clients.)

It was distinctive in that these hearing aid glasses had all the electronics in modules behind the ears. Thus, from the front and sides they looked like normal eyeglasses, not the heavy-framed hearing aid eyeglasses that were common at the time.

These eyeglass hearing aids were unique in that the modules could be unplugged from the end of each temple-piece and plugged into each other to become a barrette or body-worn hearing aid. (As far as I know, the only hearing aid to do so.)

The piece at the left is the "trim" and pocket clip combined that fit between the two modules.

This picture shows the pocket-clip version. Apparently there was another trim piece with a barrette clip instead of the pocket-clip so the ladies could wear this hearing aid hidden in their hair.
 

Because the microphone was on the far side and the receiver on the near side, effectively this was a CROS (Contralateral Routing Of Signal) hearing aid where the sound was picked up on the opposite side of your hear to where you heard it.

Rear view of the Radioear Model 840 "Lady America" eyeglass hearing aid showing it with the arms folded.

Shown here in the wire running along the back side of the top of the eyeglasses. It was held in place by 4 plastic clips.

Close-up view of the Radioear Model 840 "Lady America" eyeglass hearing aid showing how the wire ran from the top of the frame, bypassed the hinge, and disappeared into a hole in the hollow temple-piece.

Notice that there is a white dot just below the bottom jack on each of the modules. You had the modules plugged in correctly when both dots were at the bottom (as shown) for the left ear arrangement.

Notice that now both dots on the modules are at the top showing they are correctly configured for use with the right ear.

The "microphone" module measured 1 1/16" x 1⅜" x ½" (2.7 x 3.4 x 1.2 cm). It was ¼" shorter than the "receiver" module but it was not easy to tell the difference with a casual glance.

This module contained the electronics, the battery and the volume control wheel (top right). The receiver (bottom left) plugged into this module via a short 3" (8 cm) cord.

Note the white dot to the left of the right jack—necessary for correct orientation of plugs.

Note that this hearing aid had no other controls apart from the volume control. It had no tone control  or telecoil switch, for example.

The receiver" module measured 1 5/16" x 1⅜" x ½" (3.3 x 3.4 x 1.2 cm).

If you look closely, you can see the black dot on the top of the plug lines up with the white dot on the body of the hearing aid showing it is being plugged in the right way.

View of the receiver and hard plastic ear mold of the Radioear Model 840 "Lady America" eyeglass hearing aid. The ear mold snaps onto the nubbin in the center of the receiver.