History of the Vibrator

According to 17C textbooks, the treatment involved inserting 'one or more fingers of one hand into the vagina and the application of friction to the external genitalia with the other'. In other words, the medical establishment masturbated their female patients with the aim of inducing 'hysterical paroxysm' aka orgasm!

As Victorian ladies were not considered to be sexual beings, these symptoms, obviously of sexual desire, were deemed to be as a result of a vague medical condition called "Female Hysteria" which is Greek for "suffering Uterus". Thus, horny Victorian ladies were temporarily cured of the symptoms of Hysteria - anxiety, irritability, sexual fantasies, "excessive vaginal lubrication" and "pelvic heaviness" by going to the doctor for an prescription orgasm. Needless to say, ladies suffering from hysteria found it was a recurrent condition which often required repeated treatment!

So in 1869 George Taylor, M.D. developed the world's first vibrator: steam-driven, it was large and cumbersome, but it speeded up the treatment and at the same time reduced physician fatigue!

Getting a medical muff-shuffle was pretty expensive though and as electricity in the home was becoming more common-place, home plug-in vibrators were soon developed. Marketed as a "health & relaxation aid" and advertised in Women's Magazines with fabulous double-entendre such as 'wonderfully refreshing' and promising that "all the pleasure of youth ... will throb within you" quickly became popular. Vibrators actually were among the earliest appliances to be electrified for the home, preceding the vacuum cleaner and iron by a decade! Oh early industrialists - we salute you!

As early massagers began to appear in the porn films of the 1920's, manufactures could no longer keep hidden the true role of "relaxation aids" and the moral police stepped in. Advertisements vanished and "the aid every woman appreciates" fell from grace and disappeared from the market. When in the 1950's the medical establishment finally declared that "female Hysteria" was not really an ailment, Vibrators finally shuffled off their cloak and dagger disguise.

From the swinging 60's onwards, the vibrator re-emerged with an honest role; to deliver sexual pleasure. But that's not the end of the story. It wasn't until the emergence of women-focused sex shops like Sh!, established in 1992: the first of its kind in the UK, that female desire and sensibilities actually found a voice in the very male-dominated world of the sex industry. Up until then, vibrators were either "flesh"-coloured and phallic or (with a nod to their history), white plastic and medical-looking. With women finally taking control in the market, as designers and business-owners, as well as consumers, the humble vibrator with its tried and trusted orgasm-inducing power could finally blossom into beautiful, innovative playthings such as Lelo Vibrators, and the amazing, customizable Sasi Rechargable Vibrators.

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