By Tim Lambert
Early Sex Toys
People have used sex toys since Prehistoric Times, of course. Stone, bone, antler or wood dildos have been found from the era before writing was invented. Double ended dildos were also made in the Prehistoric Era.
In Ancient Greece dildos were made of bronze or leather. Dildos were also made of extra hard breadsticks. Olive oil was used for lubrication.
In Ancient China dildos were sometimes made of jade. In China women also used ben wa balls. Women were sometimes buried with their sex toys. Dildos were also used in India. They are mentioned in the famous text the Karma Sutra.
Dildos continued to be common during the Middle Ages. Nuns certainly used them. Strap on dildos were also made at that time. In the Middle Ages people were supposed to confess their sins to a priest and do penance. At that time, books called penitentials were a list of sins and recommended penances to be given. One, written by a bishop, Burchard of Worms in the 10th century mentions women using strap on dildos, (which was regarded as a sin by the Church).
During the Renaissance dildos were often made of glass. Venice was a centre of glass making and many glass dildos were made there. The word dildo was first recorded in England at the end of the 16th century. A playwright called Thomas Nashe used the term in 1592. Dildos were also mentioned by Shakespeare in his play The Winter’s Tale Act IV Scene IV. In the 18th century dildos for wealthy women were sometimes made of ivory. Dildos were sold at markets in Europe.
An educational book called ‘The School of Venus, or the Ladies Delight. Being, a collection of original poems and novels relating to love and gallantry’ was published in France in 1655. It’s about the erotic education of a young woman who had a very sheltered upbringing by an experienced woman.
Modern Sex Toys
The invention of electricity at the end of the 19th century and of plastic and silicone in the 20th century made a new range of sex toys possible.
In the early 20th century adverts for vibrators claimed they were good for women’s health. They were marketed as everything from pain relievers to devices for improving your complexion. At the time it was not acceptable for advertisers to say what they were really for. In the early 21st century app controlled sex toys became available.
Improvised anal plugs are probably as old as mankind but the first purpose made ones were marketed in the early 20th century. At first advertisers had to discreetly claim they were good for your health.
In the 1960s and 1970s attitudes to sex became more liberal and talking about sex toys became more acceptable. The world’s first sex shop opened in Germany in 1962. They soon became common in many other countries. Eve’s Garden the first women’s sex shop opened in 1974.
In 1998 an episode of Sex and the City showed a rabbit vibrator and they immediately became popular. In the 21st century the internet made it possible to buy sex toys online.
Plastic and silicon made it possible to create sex dolls. The first versions were crude but they gradually became more realistic. The fleshlight was invented in 1998. In the 21st century advances in AI mean that it’s now possible to make sex dolls that move and talk. Undoubtedly in the future sex dolls will become more and more lifelike.
Today sex toys is a multi-billion dollar industry and it’s growing significantly as society becomes more liberal and the stigma surrounding them declines.
The Antique Vibrator Museum in San Francisco opened in 2012.
