Popular culture would have us believe that no one had even heard of sex before the 60s, let alone used a sex toy, but that’s simply not the case! Our list busts all the myths and reveals that sex toys have been around, up and in for a lot longer than we think.
5. Blow Up Dolls
Believe it or not, pretend ladies of one description or another have been available to interested parties since the 1600s, when French sailors fashioned rags into a semblance of a woman to pass the time during long nights at sea. Then in 1904, after vulcanised rubber was invented, a mysterious man known only as Dr P delighted the men of Paris with the first ever inflatable sex doll. Mass manufacturing ensued and some companies even offered bespoke sex dolls that could be made to resemble the person of the purchaser’s choice! The girls weren’t left out either, one Parisian catalogue advertised male dolls that could ‘imitate ejaculation’.
4. Butt Plugs
Although it masqueraded as a cure for piles, the first ever butt plug was marketed in 1900, but was called a ‘rectal dilator’. The 4½ inch megaplug was invented by Frank E. Young and was advertised in medical journals. The butt plugs were sold throughout the US for more than four decades until someone noticed the rather suggestive instructions that came with a purchase and the device was banned when it fell afoul of the Federal Food, Drugs and Cosmetics act due to ‘false advertising’.
3. Vibrators
In the Victorian era, people got so silly about sex that even table legs were covered in high class homes in case they should stir the male carnal desire. And yet many Victorian women diagnosed with ‘hysteria’ (whatever that means), were masturbated by their doctors as a form of treatment! Then, in 1880 J Granville invented the electric ‘massager’ for all those poor doctors who were complaining of boredom and bad wrists due to the furious pleasuring they were prescribing. The ‘medical tool’ became an accepted treatment for those well to do hysterical housewives and unsurprisingly, they all calmed down considerably.
2. Condoms
Ok, a condom is not strictly a toy - unless you fill it with water, go up to your roof and throw it at passers-by on the street, but there’s evidence to suggest that they’ve been around since the 1400s thanks to a syphilis epidemic. Gabrielle Falloppio soaked a linen sheath in chemicals and tested his invention on more than 1000 volunteers and guess what? It worked. The world thanked Falloppio by naming some ladytubes after him.
1. Dildos
Is the penis mightier than the sword? Well, according to the evidence it’s at least as mighty, since ancient dildos pip all other inventions to the post in terms of longevity, apart, of course, from weapons. The oldest dildo ever found was discovered in Germany (no surprises there) and is more than 26,000 years old. I’d give it a wipe first.
