History of vibrators

The whole story of the vibrator begins in Victorian Britain. In the 19th century, it is known that hysteria began to reach epidemic proportions. The author of the book "Psychology of Sex", doctor Henry Havelock Ellis claimed that as many as three quarters of the female population were affected by this condition. Symptoms of hysteria included chronic anxiety, irritability, and heaviness in the abdomen, and early medical explanations tended to blame "faults" in the uterus. However, some scientists insisted in the theory that these women suffered from direct sexual frustration. Since the very idea of female sexual arousal was outlawed in the Victorian era, the condition was classified as non-sexual. Further to such thinking, the cure for that condition should have been medical, not sexual.

According to the historian Rachel Maines, the only consistently effective cure was a treatment practiced by the physicians for centuries, consisting of "pelvic massage". She stated that the treatment was performed by hand, until the patient reached a "hysterical paroxysm", after which she seemed miraculously restored. Pelvic massage was a very lucrative part of many medical practices in 19th century London, as the treatment had to be repeated regularly. Further, Maines explained that there was no evidence that any doctor enjoyed providing it. On the contrary, according to medical journals, most complained that it was tiring, time-consuming and physically demanding. The solution was obvious: it was necessary to design a device that would do the job faster and easier.

Victorian era advertisement for a massage treatment to cure female “hysteria”; source: Internet

And so began various versions of the device itself - in the middle of the 19th century, there were experiments with a winding vibrator, but it turned out to be of weak power, due to which it could not complete the task. "Pelvic douching" appeared in the 1860s: a machine that fired a jet of water at the clitoris and was claimed to induce a paroxysm within four minutes. In the mid-1870s, the steam-powered "Manipulator" was invented, which consisted of a table with a cut-out surface for the patient's pelvis, to which a vibrating ball was then applied. However, both machines were complicated and simply bulky, and were soon replaced by the world's first electromechanical vibrator.

Patented in the early 1880s by a London physician, Dr. J Mortimer Granville, it was even invented 10 years before the electric iron and vacuum cleaner! Initially, because it was powered by a generator the size of today's refrigerator, the device was only installed in doctors' offices and operated by medics. But with the spread of electricity to households, smaller, portable consumer versions that resembled hair dryers were soon devised, and by the turn of the century more than 50 types were on sale.

For the next 20 years or so, the vibrator, better known as the "massager", enjoyed great popularity. It was advertised alongside other innocuous household appliances in the fancy pages of magazines such as Woman's Home Companion, under slogans describing them like "Such wonderful companions" or "All the delights of youth will vibrate within you". In 1909, Good Housekeeping published a "tried" review of various models, while an ad in a 1906 issue of Woman's Own assured readers: "Can be applied faster, more evenly, and more deeply than by hand, and for as long as you like."

Early example of an electric vibrator from 1900s; source "Getty images"

Did the women really not know what they were buying? Despite the lack of evidence to the contrary, it seems unlikely - and the manufacturers certainly knew what they were selling. Advertisements from the early 20th century abound with unmistakable intentions—one manufacturer boasts of "exciting, invigorating, penetrating, revitalizing vibrations," guaranteed to create an "overwhelming desire" in a woman to own the device.

However, almost no one ever called a "hysterical paroxysm" an orgasm - because it was not even possible! Namely, in Victorian England it was believed that nothing sexual could happen without penetration. The discreet veil of medical dignity survived until the late 1920s, when the appearance of vibrators in early porn films damaged the "good image", and the vibrator promptly disappeared from the polished public view.

It reappeared in the 1960s as a rather daring sex toy, but according to Shere Hite's famous 1970s study of sexual behaviour, only 1% of women ever used it. That's perhaps not surprising, given that most vibrators up until then were modelled after a very masculine idea of what a woman would want: a super large phallus.

1960's advertisement for Vibrating massager; source: Pinterest

But at the end of the last century, the vibrator experienced something of a renaissance. It started with the invention of the Rampant Rabbit in the mid-1990s; model that has a clitoral stimulator and was popularized by appearing in the globally popular series Sex And The City in 1998. The occurrence of online shopping has also helped; when Ann Summers went online in 1999, the store sold one million bunnies in 12 months, and annual sales in the UK continue to outstrip washing machines and dryers combined. Inspired by such success, other manufacturers have designed models that pay more attention to the female anatomy than the male. Technological innovations abound from environmentally friendly rechargeable vibrators to high-quality medical silicone models that offer a variety of speeds, rhythms and movements. There are also vibrators that stimulate multiple parts of the body at once, and even smart vibrators that can be programmed, controlled remotely and synchronized with music.

1900's Rampant Rabbit vibrator; source: Pinterest