The History of Sex Toys
Sex toys are not a new concept and have been around for thousands and thousands of years in some form or another. It is estimated that the first use of sex toys was back in 300-400 BC as far back as the ancient Greeks. They used to call dildos ‘olisbos’ and they traded them out of the port of Miletus. These toys were nothing like the ones we are used to, were not only used for sexual pleasure and not something to talk about.
It wasn’t until the late 19th century that dildos, vibrator and all other kinds of sex toys became more mainstream and purely for pleasure purposes. It was during this time that doctors actually prescribed vibrators and dildos as treatment for illnesses such as hysteria, vaginal anxiety and pelvic heaviness.
A groundbreaking or bed shaking invention, the battery powered electric vibrator was actually developed by a doctor from England who wanted to find the best solution for women with hysteria. He developed this as he believe batteries made the toys easier to use, enjoy and more convenient.
It wasn’t until the end of the First World War that the sex toy popularity started to take off. Adverts were created to highlight to women the benefits of using such products to cure their hysteria and more and more people were encouraged to use both vibrators and dildos. In 1921, marketers took a new slant and decided to advertise these sorts of sex toys to men. This was to encourage the man in the house to buy them for their wives to use in order to keep them ‘young and pretty’ – unfortunately this claim was in fact false.
The Blue movies of the 1920’s continued to promote the use of sex toys but this time for sexual stimulation rather than a treatment. This then turned vibrators into a taboo subject and adverts now advertised them to everyone who wished to own one.
In 1948 Alfred Kinsey’s international bestselling book ‘Sexual Behaviour in the Human Male’ bought the taboo out into the open once again boldly stating that 94% of men and 40% of women he interviewed, masturbated to orgasm.
Obviously vibrators have come a long way since then and are no longer prescribed as treatment by doctors – although I am sure many people wouldn’t complain if this came back!
Once the 1960’s arrived the sex toy market boomed and became more mainstream than ever before. The number of sex toy variants also increased with a huge variety of dildos, butt plugs, vibrators, lubricants and other sex aids becoming readily available. It also meant the number of specialist shops and magazines selling these products also increased.
The sex toy industry is now a multi million pound business and luckily for you, there is now a whole array of different products to keep you and your partner occupied. It seems that whether you like it or not, sex toys are definitely here to stay!