A Visual History of the Vibrator February 22, 2013 Jill Posting has been slow! I am sorry! Enjoy this visual history of the vibrator.
No joke, especially the “Oster Stim-u-lax for Barbers.” I don’t want any of those anywhere near my sensitive parts…
Interesting how little the basic design’s changed. Then again, I suppose the general design of the bits it’s supposed to stimulate hasn’t changed either… so that makes sense.
The big structural change is that you rarely see suction cups on vibes these days. I’d be curious to learn whether or not they work well.
To diverge from the topic slightly, if you’re interested in the fascinating history of vibrators, I recommend the book The Technology of Orgasm: “Hysteria,” the Vibrator, and Women’s Sexual Satisfaction by Rachel P. Maines. I was rather intrigued by how a tool of the patriarchy (as it initially was!) has been reclaimed by many feminists as a way to give people with clitorises more ways to explore their sexuality.