First Sex Toy

First Sex Toy

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It can be unsettling thinking about your grandmother or grandfather having sex or, heaven forbid, using a vibrator . But your ancestors (well, maybe not yours specifically, but someone's ancestors) definitely used sex toys .
Granted, their sex toys weren't made from the finest purple silicone, but they still got the job done. And isn't that all that really matters? Here's a brief look at sex toys throughout history — from the bizarre and hilarious to the straight-up genius.
This bronze dildo with a ring attached to it (perhaps to be worn as a strap-on?) was found inside the tomb of an aristocrat in the Chinese city of Yizheng in the Jiangsu province . Judging by the materials and intricate details used when creating this relic, the ancient Chinese considered sex toys an art form.
This jade and bronze butt plug was discovered in the tomb of a king near modern-day Shanghai. Researchers believe the butt plugs were actually used to seal certain orifices in corpses a nd to maintain the body' s chi (the life force and energy found in the body) , not as sex toys. But this one could certainly pass as a prototype for today's toys...
If you were a horny woman or man living in Ancient Greece, you probably didn't have a slew of sex shops downtown, but you did have plenty of bread — which could be fashioned into a perfect bread dildo . Folks living back in those days reportedly didn't identify as heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual — they just indulged whatever pleasure they fancied. Bread dildos were used by men and women as a sexual aid,
according to Vicki Leon, author of The Joy of Sexus: Lust, Love & Longing in the Ancient World — a biodegradable sexual aid, which made them responsible sexy people.
The steam-powered Manipulator is known as the first hand-crank vibrator ever created — years before electricity would truly change the game. American physician George Taylor came up with this unique, utterly frightening design, which consists of a dildo attached to a steam engine that produced vibrations. You've got to give credit where it's due: Unlike many vibrators that would come after this one, there's no way you can pass this off as a beauty tool — it was honest about its intentions to produce bodily stimulation. It's important to remember that a device like this one wasn't created with female orgasm in mind — the goal back in those days was to help alleviate hysteria in women
— and, by " hysteria ," they meant sexual frustration, but it would be decades before those actual words would be used.
Macaura's Pulsocon Hand Vibrator was one of the more advanced hand-crank vibrators created in the 1880s and sold throughout the early 1900s. It may look like a torture device, but this handheld vibrator was capable of delivering 5,000 vibrations per minute. Of course, it required a lot more effort than modern vibrators. You had to hold one end, place the other on your body, and then manually turn the crank handle. The vibrator was marketed as a DIY cure for illnesses — oh, and of course, to combat female hysteria . Here's hoping women got the last laugh with this device.
So, what do you do after you've invented Macaura's Pulsocon Hand Vibrator? You improve upon the model and create the next-generation vibrator: the Blood Circulator . Similar to the original, this was a hand-crank vibrator with a little something extra: The vibrator, which you would place directly on your body, featured applicators that would screw into the center the device
so that you could manually increase the vibrations and have more control over how powerful a vibration you wanted on your body.
You have to give the Polar Club Electric Vibrator extra points for its attractive green handle and packaging, which pictures a woman using this device on her neck — right . Two interesting things about this vibrator, which came out in 1928, are that it uses electricity — hurray for no more hand cramps — and boasts a textured knob to provide different pleasurable sensations.
Since women weren't yet owning up to using vibrators on their vaginas or breasts, it's impossible to know how many purchased this as a beauty aid versus its...other uses, but the Antique Vibrator Museum includes it as an examples of past sex toys — and the appeal is pretty obvious.
The Andis Vibrator was marketed for both men and women as a beauty and health tool that could be used to help the blood circulate to the scalp, face, and body. But, considering how many texturized add-ons were included with the device, it's believe that a woman's cheeks
weren't the only body part benefitting from all of those diverse forms of stimulation.
The Rolling Pin Heat Massager certainly looked unassuming, but it packed a powerful punch: It produced heat and vibrations so that you could give your body an incredible` massage. This device seems a little too large and bulky to target the clitoris, but it could be used for indirect stimulation.
Vibrators like this vintage treasure called the Hollywood Vibra-Tone were also called "spot reducers" because their manufacturers claimed they could help you lose weight. It's bulky, it looks more like a classic radio than a sex toy, but it was definitely inconspicuous and wouldn't raise any flags if a guest found it in the bathroom. This is another example of a vintage vibrator included in the Antique Vibrator Museum's vast collection.
The Oster Stim-U-Lax for Barbers was a vibrating device you strapped onto the back of your hand to deliver powerful sensations wherever it was placed. Sure, it was marketed for barbers to use on their customers' scalps, but other people caught on to its other benefits pretty early on and it took off as a hush-hush sex toy. Babeland's Vintage Vibrator Museum includes as an example of a multipurpose vibrator that delivered "forceful vibrations … down through the fingers, and onto the scalp — or other body part."
The Hitachi Magic Wand was a beloved little gadget from Japan that became known as the "Cadillac of Vibrators." It was marketed as a massager, but with its long handle and powerful vibrating head,
it didn't take long for people like American sex educator Betty Dodson to publicly sing its praises as a sex toy. (Fun fact: Dodson even used the Hitachi Magic Wand in private masturbation classes to help teach women how to stimulate their clitorises.) The '70s were the decade when vibrators finally became known as sex aids in the mainstream.
In 1983, Japanese sex toy company Vibratex invented a now-iconic sex toy called The Rabbit that boldly went where no other device had gone before: It provided both penetration and clitoral stimulation. There was one problem: Japanese manufacturers were not allowed to make outright sex toys, so they got around this pesky rule by shaping their devices into animal shapes (other companies made toys shaped like beavers, turtles, and kangaroos). The Pearl Rabbit also featured a rotating band of pearls on the shaft that provided additional stimulation. It became insanely popular after Charlotte on Sex and the City famously used it.

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Sex toys have gotten a bad rep over the years, but are the tides turning? Real ladies share stories of their first encounters with sex toys. They’re not as scary as you might think!
While we’re still hoping no one opens our bedside drawer, we’re slowly but surely becoming more willing to talk about what it takes to get off. SheKnows scoured social media, did our best not to blush and asked ladies about their first experiences with sex toys. The results were pretty fun.*
“Maybe I’m a late bloomer, but I didn’t buy my first toy until I was 25. After I divorced the only man I’d ever been with, the only thing I missed was the sex. I bought a pretty pink dildo with a little rabbit that stuck up and vibrated. I definitely dove into the sex toy pool way too fast! It was so intimidating. A month later, I bought just a small vibrator. So that’s what an O feels like.”
“I bought my first toy last year for my wedding. My boyfriend/fiance always wanted to try the other hole and I just wasn’t interested. A few weeks before my wedding, I ended up in the black hole that is Tumblr and found out about a “Princess Plug.” It’s just a very small plug for the back door with a rhinestone in it. I let my husband find it on our wedding night.”
“I got my first vibrator as a wedding present from my best friend. She married young and said by her fifth anniversary everything had stopped. So, when I got married several years later, she gave me a vibrator to help me prepare for the future dry spell.”
“My freaking mother bought me a dildo before I left for college and told me not to come home with any diseases or babies. Gotta love moms!”
“I bought my first vibrator this year, actually. I caught my husband watching porn where the girl was masturbating. I knew he watched porn… but, I’d rather him watch me than some chick on the internet. So, I went to the shop near our house, bought a vibrator in Tarheel Blue (we’re from North Carolina) and let him watch. So embarrassing. But, I got his attention.”
“I got mine when I was 20. One of my sorority sisters got us all matching vibrators for Christmas. They were in our sorority colors. The room was filled with a mix of shock and amusement. Then someone pointed out how easily they could get mixed up. Everyone laughed and took them back to their rooms. No idea if anyone else used theirs, but I used mine until it stopped working.”
“I got mine a few years ago. As a single mom, I try to date but sometimes it’s just rough. A girl has needs, though, ya know? It’s usually about midnight before I have any guaranteed alone time and then I’m pretty tired, but when I do get the chance to use it I swear it’s the best purchase I ever made. Better accuracy and way less drama.”
“My boyfriend gave me mine a few weeks before he deployed a while ago. It came with his old digital camera and some photo paper. The message was pretty obvious. I didn’t feel comfortable doing it by myself, so we did it together. As far as I know, he managed to smuggle those pictures in with him… and, yes, I guess I was glad to have it once he left.”
See? It turns out all kinds of girls are experimenting with toys. Not because they’re depraved or dirty but because it gets the job done and, sometimes, it gives their loved ones a bit of a thrill, too. So, we guess you could say buying a sex toy is for a good cause.
What’s your sex toy story? We’re dying to know, so share below.
The stories you care about, delivered daily.
SheKnows is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2022 SheMedia, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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Krissy Brady
Krissy is a regular contributor to Prevention, and she also writes for Cosmopolitan, Weight Watchers, Women's Health, FitnessMagazine.com, Self.com, and Shape.com.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

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Buying or receiving your first sex toy — and breaking it in — can be just as awkward as having sex for the first time. Thank goodness for Google.
Once you get over the hump, however, there's no going back. Here, eight women share stories of losing their vibe virginity.
"My mom bought me a dildo as one of my high school graduation presents. (I wish I was joking.) In typical mom fashion, she told me she didn't want me coming home from college knocked up. Since moms and orgasms don't go together, I didn't end up using it, but it did encourage me to buy one of my own—which I used until I broke it." —Tricia S.
"I decided to purchase a sex toy after my husband and I hit a major drought. I went to a local sex shop and started looking around. I asked the girls who worked there for advice and purchased one of the vibrators they recommended. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed using it! It was super-liberating, like I was taking charge of my sex life . Now, I'm a regular customer." —Hilary M.
"The first time I used a vibrator , it hurt so much that I hurled it into the closet. But then I discovered the 'gentle' setting, and my life has never been the same." —Anastasia W.
"I was 17 and snuck into Spencer's at the mall because it was the easiest place for me to buy a vibrator on the DL. I grabbed the least offensive-looking one I could find and paid cash. It was $12, plastic, and glowed in the dark. It didn't vibrate very well, and the plastic felt stiff and cheap." —Carrie L.
"My bestie bought me one of those bullet vibrators that are the size of a tampon for Christmas. If one of my friends didn't tell me what it was, I would've thought it was a keychain. I had no idea what to do with it. Naturally, I turned to Google for instructions and (thankfully) learned it was a clitoral stimulator before I used it. If I didn't do my homework, I would've probably ened up at gyno's office so she could fish it out for me." —Ronnie N.
"My boyfriend and I are in a long-distance relationship , so the topic of buying a sex toy kept coming up in conversation. He ended up making the first move and bought a rabbit vibrator, which we used together the first time. It felt weird because of how big it was. But after breaking in, I can't live without it." —Andrea D.
"I was raised very conservative Christian and taught that all masturbation was bad. On my way to the sex toy shop with my friend, I got a flat tire, and a van with Bible verses painted on it pulled over to help us. I thought it was a sign, but we made it to the store anyway. I bought the least scary-looking vibe I could find. I've owned many others since then, but it's a miracle I survived that initial pass." —Jenn T.
"When I was 36, I was invited to a 'naughty girl' party and was actually really nervous. When it came time to place our orders, I decided to go big or go home. I proudly bought a vibrator with all the bells and whistles on it—and yes, I tried them all. I'll never go back to not having a vibe handy." —Steph S.

What was your first ever sex toy, and how old were you?
I own and use buzzing toys ♡ · Author has 227 answers and 2.8M answer views · 4 y ·
Women, how old were you when you first got a vibrator/dildo? How was it?
Who can post a photo of a vibrator or dildo inside your vagina?
How do you feel when a vibrator vibrates inside your vagina?
Have you ever been caught in the middle of using a sex toy on yourself before? What happened if you did get caught?
Women, how old were you when you first got a vibrator/dildo? How was it?
Who can post a photo of a vibrator or dildo inside your vagina?
How do you feel when a vibrator vibrates inside your vagina?
Have you ever been caught in the middle of using a sex toy on yourself before? What happened if you did get caught?
Is it ok to send a guy a photo of a vibrator inside your vagina?
What kind of dildo should I buy as a teenage girl?
As a teen, how did you get your hands on sex toys?
What are some good sites for men to ask women for erotic photos?
Do women wear sex toys out in public in their vaginas?
What does a vibrator or a dildo feel like inside?
What does it mean when a girl sends a
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