Electric Spanking Chairs, 1898
Apparently as the 19th century gave way to the 20th, there was a move to automate the spanking discipline at reform schools across the nation. This from the New York Times of February 14, 1898:
SPANKING BY ELECTRICITY
Kansas Has Invented a Method Which Colorado May Adopt
Chicago, Ill., Feb. 13 — Warden C.P. Hoyt of Denver has designed a spanking chair for use in the Industrial School for Girls. It consists of a seatless chair on which the girls are placed. It is high enough from the ground to allow four paddles to be operated by electric wires. Straps hold the victim’s wrists to the arm of the chair.
At the Girl’s Industrial School of Kansas, situated at Beloit, they have what is called a spanking chair. Bad girls are strapped in the chair, an attendant presses a button, and the chair does the rest. The Kansas authorities will be asked in a few days to explain this system, and if it is satisfactory to the local authorities a spanking chair will be purchased for the Colorado institution.
Found via Natty’s Spanking Blog.








