Sperm Swap Blog

included the clinical production of orgasm in women and girls.”

According to medical and midwifery texts of the 1600s, “the
treatment generally consisted of the insertion of one or more
fingers of one hand into the vagina and the application of
friction to the external genitalia with the other. Fragrant oils
of various types were employed as lubricants in this procedure.”
The objective was to induce “hysterical paroxysm,” manifested by
“rapid respiration and pulse, reddening of the skin, vaginal
lubrication and abdominal contractions.” Sounds very familiar,
doesn’t it, but at the time it was considered an activity more
appropriate to the doctor’s office than the boudoir!

Maines writes that not all physicians recognized this “paroxysm”
as an orgasm, but some medical authors through the ages do
“comment on the morally ambiguous character of the treatment,
including [one physician] who observes that genital massage
should be reserved ‘to those alone who have clean hands and a
pure heart’.” Later therapies included massage with a jet of
water, but “hydrotherapists warned that patients were inclined to
demand more treatment than was considered good for them.” A
seventeenth century doctor complained of the fatigue factor for
the physician in massage therapy and the long practice and
considerable dexterity required (not to mention the stress of
keeping those hands clean and those hearts pure).

Maines credits George Taylor, an American physician, with a
primary role in the development of the modern vibrator in this
country. In 1869 and 1872 he patented a steam-powered massage and
vibratory apparatus for treatment of female disorders, intended
for supervised use “to prevent overindulgence.” By 1900, “a wide
range of vibratory apparatus was available to
physicians….Articles and textbooks on vibratory massage
technique at the turn of the century praised the machines’
versatility for treatment of nearly all diseases in both sexes,
and its [sic] efficiency of time and labor, especially in
gynecological massage….By [1909] convenient portable models
were available, permitting use on house calls….” (So that’s
what was inside the doctor’s little black bag.)

Until the end of the 1920s, vibrators were advertised in many
respectable women’s magazines as home appliances, primarily as an
aid to good health and relaxation, but with ambiguous overtones -
– “All the pleasures of youth will throb within you,” reads a
typical ad. Maines believes that the disappearance of vibrators
from doctors’ offices and magazine advertisements “may have been
the result either of the adoption of psychotherapeutic treatments
[for hysteria] by physicians, or of the appearance of vibrators
in stag films in the Twenties, or both.”

Most of the electric vibrators discussed in this book were
neither designed nor marketed (until very recently) with sexual
uses in mind.

In a 1981 Esquire article, author Mimi Swartz reviewed the
emergence of the vibrator as a big business venture, with sales
totaling about $13 million in 1980. This is a remarkable story
when you consider that the manufacturers are marketing a product
without advertising its main benefit. Imagine trying to sell a
toaster by saying that it is a metal box that gets very hot when
you plug it in — and that’s all. Apparently, this non-existent
marketing approach failed, since several mainstream manufacturers
no longer make vibrators.

Electric vibrators/massagers have been manufactured in the United
States since around the turn of the century (the most elderly in
my collection was made by Hamilton Beach and carries a patent
date of 1902). However, the first electric vibrator openly
advertised for sexual use was an American-made, multi-attachment
model, repackaged with a clitoral stimulator tip, and sold at
first almost exclusively through the mail in the early 1970s.
This particular brand is now sold primarily by discount stores
alongside the hair dryers and electric toothbrushes. The package
insert is pretty tame; all sexual references have disappeared. In
the late 1980s, a well-stocked department or discount store in
some parts of the country may carry as many as four or five
different brands of electric vibrators, and lest rural readers
despair, the Sears catalog has always included a full line of
good quality vibrators (manufactured for them by others). Are you
surprised?

Interesting, isn’t it, that vibrators which lost their
respectability once they were shunned by the medical profession
are now seen as an important tool for women taking control of and
enhancing their sexuality.

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