The first electric hearing aid was the Acousticon, patented by the Miller Reese Hutchinson of New York on November 15, 1901 and manufactured by the newly formed Hutchinson Acoustic Company the following year. IT consisted of a large housing for the batteries, about the size of a portable radio, and telephone-type receiver to hold to the ear.
One of the earliest users was Queen Alexandra, who had been partially deaf since infancy. The Queen used the Acousticon aid throughout the Coronation ceremony in 1902 and afterwards presented the 26-year-old inventor with a medal to mark her appreciation. The first electric hearing aid designed to be worn on the person was the Amplivox, weighing 2.5 lb, which was marketed by A. Edwin Stevens of London in October 1935. The first transistor hearing aid was manufactured by the Sonotone Corporation of Elmsford, New York and marked on December 29, 1952.