15 Little-Known Facts About Sex Toys

By Ashley Paige

Updated on 2/15/2018 at 7:50 AM

GenelLynne Photography
GenelLynne Photography

Masturbating regularly is healthy for you, and thanks to sex toys, you have a little help in that department. Unsurprisingly, these little orgasm assistants have a very interesting history. Let's explore 15 things you might not know about them.

  1. The world's first dildo dates back about 28,000 years. If you're under the impression that ancient people didn't have playthings around, think again. In 2005, the BBC reported on a very old phallus discovered in a cave in Germany. It was 20 centimenters long and three centimeters wide and assembled from siltstone.
  2. The modern vibrator was born out of a need to quell female hysteria. Way back when, hysteria was a deemed illness among the female population that consisted of a "wandering womb" (OK?). Docs thought these women just needed a good lay — or rather, an earth-shattering orgasm. In 1869, the steam-powered sex device came about, thanks to American physician George Taylor.
  3. Mr. Taylor's vibrator was dubbed the Manipulator. According to Vice, the doc patented his tool. It was a padded table with a hole and a moving ball in the middle of it.
  4. The first electric vibrator was invented in the 1880s. British physician Joseph Mortimer Granville created the first electromechanical sex device in the 1880s. If you find any of this fascinating, check out the 2011 flick Hysteria.
Everett Collection
  1. By 1918, vibrators were available in the Sears catalog. In the home appliances section, more specifically.
  2. Today, the market for vibrators is huge. In 2013, the sex toy business was estimated to gross around $15 billion in annual sales. Obviously, vibrators have come a long way since they were used for "hysterical" women.
  3. In 2009, half of Americans were using vibrators. According to Livescience, more than 50 percent of women had used a vibrator and around 45 percent of men had used vibrators in sexual activities. We can only imagine what these stats would look like now.
  4. In Texas, it's not legal to own more than six "obscene devices" (we think they mean dildos). This is pretty damn wacky, if you ask us.
Columbia Pictures
  1. You can buy sex toys based on mythology. If "a mass of seething tentacles" from the ancient depths arouses you, by all means, try your hand at this . . . thing.
  2. Married women are more than twice as likely to use a vibrator. Very interesting . . .
  3. Fifty Shades of Grey is responsible for the surge of bondage sales. The Fifty Shades frenzy was responsible for an increase of over 50 percent in sales, according to sex toy company Adam and Eve.
Focus Features
  1. South Dakota buys the most sex devices. Idaho, West Virignia, Maine, and New Hampshire are up there, too.
  2. Vibrators are the most popular toys. The rubber penis came in second at 16 percent (vibrators: 19.2 percent).
  3. The most expensive vibrator will blow your mind. White gold and covered with diamonds, it retails at $55,000.
  4. Vibrators are now high tech in ways you wouldn't imagine. The Whoop.de.doo vibrator, for example, has intuitive controls, a magnetic USB charger, and Braille dots. From the company's Indigogo page: "On the inside, [the toy] houses a highly intelligent mechanism complete with rechargeable power source neatly concealed beneath a layer of white medical-grade silicone, which means it is entirely waterproof and, most importantly, 100% hygienic."
Whoop.de.doo