Collections Corner: Electrostatic Generator

Electrostatic generator / X-ray machine, circa 1910. Accession #006030001.

In 2006 the Museum of Health Care received this fascinating artefact donation from Elizabeth McMahon, the granddaughter of Dr. Frank Mellow who used the machine in his home office in Uxbridge, Ontario.

The machine generated an electrical charge with the turn of a crank and could be used with various instruments for electrotherapy or to produce x-rays.  Here is a fantastic video overview by Tabitha Renaud.

In September 2011 Elizabeth returned to the Museum to visit the electrostatic generator, and she shared some wonderful anecdotes about her childhood memories of the machine:

Interview with Former Curator Paul Robertson

As mentioned at the bottom of the previous blog post, after seven years with the Museum of Health Care, former Curator Paul Robertson has decided to move on. The Museum of Health Care thanks Paul for his many years of innovative, exciting curatorial work and wishes him all the best in his new position.

Before his departure, we conducted a mini interview with Paul. Here are Paul’s answers: