by Patricia J. Benjamin

Every holiday season they show up in newspaper ads, catalogs and now on the Internet-massage gadgets of all kinds. Even professional massage publications show an increasing number of massage tools guaranteed to save your hands, and make your work more effective.

Manual massage tools, which preceded the electric variety, have existed for some time. John Harvey Kellogg recounts that a form of percussion called whipping was used by ancient Roman physicians, and that in a very old tradition, Laplanders and Finns "beat the body with bundles of birch twigs" (1929, p. 12). Eventually, more sophisticated massage tools were designed and handmade by people for their own use.

Hammers And Cattle Ribs
In the 1780s, an English veteran of the American Revolutionary War named Admiral Henry of Rolvenden made manual massage tools for treating his own muscular aches and pains. His goal was to increase circulation by keeping soft tissues "loose by instruments worked among them."

Figure 1. "Reduction of the Flesh" by abdominal roller No.5 (Rorest, 1898)

Admiral Henry's instruments were of different materials, and varying shapes and sizes. For example, he placed a piece of cork on the head of a hammer and covered it with leather, as a percussion device. He also made a wood instrument for beating the heels and soles of the feet. He fashioned bone instruments from cattle ribs "with knobs to work among the tendons" that were shaped for rubbing various parts of the body. Small bone instruments were fashioned for rubbing the inside of the mouth (Johnson, 1866, p. 90-100).

In the early 1800s, rubbing, friction and percussion were the mainstays of manual treatment. But by the end of the 19th century, massage had developed into a more sophisticated form of manual therapy, including sliding techniques (i.e., effleurage) that could be mimicked with rollers. In addition, the industrial revolution had set the stage for mass production of manual massage tools that could be made available to the masses in large urban centers, and via catalog to more rural areas.

Figure 2. Rolling for that "Gibson Girl" neck with roller No. 3 (Forest, 1898)

Figure 3. Japanese roller on forearm (Bilz, 1898)

Figure 4. Fan-like percussion instrument applied to the back (Forest, 1898)

Mass-Produced Massage Tools
For more than 100 years, handheld "massagers" have been mass-produced, and available to the general public and professionals alike. One manufacturer, the Health Culture Company of New York, put out a line of manual massage tools in the 1890s, well before the wide availability of electricity. The idea was to increase the use of massage for treating ailments.

"But where there is one invalid who may command the services of a skillful masseur in the home, or the sanitarium, there are a thousand sufferers in distant farm houses, in smaller towns and villages, in the homes in city or country where wealth does not abound, who are deprived of this powerful means of cure if it can only be given at the hands of a professional masseur" (Foster, 1898, p. 5).

The Health Culture line of massage tools was designed for use in the home by individuals, and in institutions and hospitals by trained assistants. Two of the most popular mass-produced manual tools were massage rollers and percussion instruments.

The New Roller Treatment
Massage rollers were used to provide a rolling compression along muscles, simulating the basic massage technique of effleurage. Dr. William Forest's massage rollers, sold by the Health Culture Company (c. 1898), came in six sizes to support various purposes and different sites on the body. They were used for the "new roller treatment" for ailments like indigestion, constipation, rheumatism, neuralgia and insomnia. The abdominal roller No. 5 was used for the "reduction of flesh." For a more beautiful Gibson girl neck, No. 3 was the roller of choice. (See Figures 1, Page 154, and 2, above.)

In late 19th century Germany, a roller called the "Japanese apparatus" was popular. It consisted of a ball housed in a casing that fit into the hand, and allowed the ball to roll freely as it moved along the skin. (See Figure 3.)

Variations of the massage roller are endless. Simple wooden rollers for the feet and back continue to be popular for self-care. A corrective foot exercise chart introduced by Dr. William Scholl in 1940 shows the use of his "plantar massage and foot strengthener" to relieve aches, pains and cramps due to weak and broken down feet.

Muscle Beaters 
Many varieties of percussion instruments, also known as muscle beaters, have been used through the ages. Some 19th century examples include a wooden percussor for the soles of the feet, and a fan-like percussion instrument that could reach the back. (See Figures 4 and 5.)

Well-known proponent of massage Douglas Graham, M.D. (1848-1928) is said to have introduced rubber ball beaters to the medical circles of his day. (See Figure 6.)

"Very well suited for percussion are india-rubber balls secured to steel, whalebone or other elastic handles. With these one gets the spring of the handles together with the rebound of the balls, and thus rapidity of motion with easily varying intensity may be gained if only the operator knows how to let his wrists play freely ... the effect is usually perceived in a peculiar and agreeable thrill" (Graham's Treatise on Massage, as quoted in Forest, 1898).

Some muscle beaters (c. 1900) were more technologically advanced. For example, the "pneumatic beater," developed by Professor Carl Klemm, was touted in his book, Muscle Beating for the Sick and Well. This ingenious device consisted of a corrugated air-tight rubber tube with a flexible spring inside, covered with soft felt or elastic tubing, and secured on a handle that fit onto the tube. This construction gave the beater flexibility to conform to irregular body surfaces. (See Figure 7.)

Figure 6. India-rubber ball beaters (c. 1900)
Figure 5. Wooden percussor for the soles of the feet (c. 1900)	Figure 7. "Pneumatic Beater" (c.1898)

Modern Variations
It seems that each year brings modern variations of these old massage tools. While the basic intent hasn't changed much in 200 years (with the noted exception of tools to work trigger points), modern materials and modified shapes add newness to an old concept. Plastic, in particular, has been found useful in making massage tools because it can easily be molded into odd shapes, is flexible and is easily mass-produced. One of the earliest uses of plastic, related to massage, was on a rolling pin device made of a corrugated rubber surface with green Bakelite handles (c. 1920). Note: Bakelite is an early form of plastic.

Some plastic massage tools made in recent years are vaguely reminiscent of those made of cattle ribs by Admiral Henry in the 18th century. They may take on different shapes, but all provide a smooth surface to easily slide along the skin and rub the muscles underneath. These tools include round-knobbed plastic devices, and even massagers shaped like animals (i.e., dolphins). These plastic massagers can be just about any shape, as long as the massage surface is smooth enough and the tool is easy to hold.

While plastic is cheaper to mass-produce, natural materials seem to retain their popularity among massage practitioners. From the classic wooden "Ma-Roller" and "Footsie Roller" made popular in the 1970s, to the Knobble and various other devices, wood is the material of choice for many therapists. Hot rocks and stone massagers are recent natural materials made popular by massage therapists in spa settings.

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Patricia J. Benjamin, Ph.D., is coauthor of Tappan's Handbook of Healing Massage Techniques and Understanding Sports Massage. She has been writing and teaching about the history of massage therapy since the early 1980s. She is currently executive director of the Chicago School of Massage Therapy, and can be reached via E-mail at: pjb@csmt.com.

Bibliography

Bilz, F. E. The Natural Method of Treatment. Leipzig, Germany: F. E. Bilz, 1898.

Forest, W. E. The Manual of Massotherapy: The Use of Massage Rollers and Muscle Beaters. Pamphlet. New York: Health-Culture Co., 1898.

Johnson, W. The Anatriptic Art: A History of the Art Termed Anatripsis by Hippocrates ... and Medical Rubbing. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1866.

Kellogg, J. H. The Art of Massage. Battle Creek, Michigan: Modern Medicine Publishing, 1929.