AJAX VIOLET RAY GENERATOR, 1920's

A hand-held high voltage coil feeds radio energy into a low-pressure gas electrode. The energy is capacitively coupled into the human body, providing warmth via diathermy. At the same time, the gas discharge creates ozone and ultraviolet light, which were said to be effective in many skin diseases.

The equipment produced heat by diathermy, ozone and ultraviolet light.
See similar Item A0873.

WARNING These units are connected directly to the mains and are dangerous.

Your comments:

• back in the 1970's these devices were used to generate "kirlian photography" the device is essentially a tesla coil. you made a flat plate electrode out of a piece of copper circuit board, made an electrical connection from the plate to the device using an auto mobile spark wire. under a black cloth, you placed an unexposed Polaroid film sheet on top of the copper plate. the subject would place his fingertips on the surface of the film, the operator would turn the power on for a half second, and the film was put back in the camera and pushed out the rollers. the discharge patterns would show on the film. later these devices were used by the S&M crowd as consensual pain delivery devices.
  .......... karl christopher, seattle, washington, USA, 9th of May 2014
  
  
• My father (now 89) grew up in Rochester New York. His father started a condenser coil winding shop. This brand of violet ray machine was one of his accounts. He was provided with one from Acme. As a child I had few fears bigger than when my dad got out this machine! I remember it being called "THE ZAPPER". My father always told us that it was most probably designed by the electric company because it was a worthless quack remedy. Now I have it but I waited for my kids to get a bit older before I showed it to them. An neon sign maker friend said that it was a "tickler" essentially the same device that he used to check for leaks in charged tubes.
  .......... Kris Grinnell Eckhardt, Westbrook Me. , 9th of January 2014
  
  

A1268