The History of the Vibrator

The use of vulvular massage as a therapy for "hysterical" patients dates back to Hippocrates. During the 19^th century, it caught on as a treatment for diagnosed hysteria.

The treatment wasn't generally thought of as sexual, but rather as a therapy. Women had to return week after week, year after year. But doing it by hand was exhausting, tedious work; some women had to be massaged for an hour before they reached paroxysm.

Doctors experimented with mechanizing the process. Hydrotherapy—the shooting of water directly at the patient's reproductive region—proved effective and became quite fashionable. It had its drawbacks, though: It was messy, expensive, and not easily portable.

In the 1880s, a British doctor invented the first electric vibrator, an industrial-size contraption meant to be a permanent fixture in a doctor's office. It was a major labor-saver, allowing many patients to reach paroxysm in less than 10 minutes. In addition to treating hysteria, these early vibrators were multipurpose; they were relaxing, cured sore throats, and ‘restored plumpness to bony arms’. .

Even men were diagnosed with more similar ailments and were sometimes treated with vibrator massage. The legendary naturalist John Muir patented his own vibrator for men in 1899.

Around the turn of the century, entrepreneurs began to recognize the huge potential market for hand-held vibrators for home use. Hamilton Beach patented its first take-home vibrator in 1902, making the vibrator the fifth electrical appliance to be introduced into the home, after the sewing machine and long before the electric iron. By 1917, there were more vibrators than toasters in American homes.

Starting in the 1920s, the vibrator revealed to be the sex toy that it was.

From the 1950s through the 1970s, the vibrator became like a camouflaged technology. Catalogs full of household appliances featured banana-shaped vibrators. Also popular were vibrators that doubled as nail-buffer kits, hair brushes, backscratchers, and some that were designed as attachments for vacuum cleaners. Most of them were cheesy, battery-operated devices that came in avocado green, gold, and burnt orange.