A Brief History of Sex Toys

Do you have a trusted sexual wellness aid, aka: a sex toy, to amp up your solo or partnered sex life? What kind of sex toy tickles your fancy? 

It can't be the world’s oldest dildo, which dates back to 28 000 years ago! 

Yes, indeed. The world’s oldest dildo was found in a cave in Baden-Wuerttemberg, Southern Germany, in 2005. 

After years of research, the stone phallus was discovered, which was around 20 centimetres in length and three centimetres in width. Researchers soon determined that it most definitely used in sexual contexts.

Now, the big question is: how have sex toys evolved? Here we’ll give you a fun and brief history of sex toys! 

28,000 BC

After the first sex toy was discovered in Germany, a few more were found in France and other parts of Europe. These phallic objects were created using antlers, bones, and stone. 

When studying these artefacts, archaeologists believed that they were used for ritualistic or sexual purposes. Given the fact that they were adorned with dots and lines at the tip (to have a similar appearance to a real penis), they were inclined to determine that they were sexual in nature.

6,000 BC

Recent excavations at the Motala site in Östergötland, Scandinavia found phallic objects, made of bone and wood, dating back to between 6,000 BC and 4,000 BC. They measured up to twelve centimetres in length and two centimetres in girth.

Were they dildos? Well, Archeologist Göran Gruber, who was part of the team to discover these objects, believed so. He stated clearly - “It signals an erect penis-like shape”. 

1150 BC

Around this time, papyrus scrolls containing illustrations of animal tales were created by a draughtsman at Thebes in Upper Egypt.

These scrolls were discovered by archeologists, and contained cartoon characters and objects that resembled artificial stimulation. 

One such image was a female figure and an inverted vase with a pointed base. In front of her, a man stood pointing his finger towards her intimate area. While this cartoon is very telling, it is still uncertain if the illustrator drew them as fiction or as a reflection of actual events. 

520 BC

Back in Europe, the Greeks were somewhat open about their desires. And in 520 BC, merchants were selling a tool called an olisbos (meaning “artificial phallus”). The olisbos was made out of softened leather then stuffed with wool and polished, which would give it a smooth finish. 

411 BC

In the now famous play Lysistrata by Aristophane, it was hinted that men were being replaced by phallic devices, and that olisbos were used, by women, as a masturbation aid. 

This play took place in Miletus (now known as Balat, Turkey) and displayed a woman telling her friend about the satisfaction brought about by using an olisbos. 

What’s also interesting about the olisbos is that, in 350 BC, it gained more popularity and new ideas began to come to fruition. For example, using olive oil as a lubricant. Yes, really!

400 BC

Cue the Kama Sutra, the world’s oldest formally written book on sexual pleasure. 

In this book, there are a variety of references pertaining to sex toys. Examples include objects made of wood, rubber, gold, silver, and ivory. 

This book also references sex toys for men. It suggested that if a man has no sexual partner, they may use a doll. The earliest mention of sex dolls? Indeed. Yay!

They also talk of penis extensions as a means to treat erectile dysfunction (like the modern day sex toy, the strap-on).

200 BC

Between 1995 and 2011, phallic objects were found in the Jiangsu province in China. These artefacts dated back to around 200 BC, and were found in the tombs of the rich and royalty. 

In these tombs, a variety of different objects were discovered, such as urinals, bronze dildos, and jade butt plugs.

27 BC

During the Roman Empire, phallic objects were used and seen as a source of protective power. 

The Romans were so infatuated with them, in fact, that they had them appear in frescoes, mosaics, and other decorative objects. Also, smaller versions of this sex toy were made into pendants and worn around the neck. 

Additionally, some of these artefacts were used as ritual toys. What does that mean? Women performed ceremonies to honour the Mutunus Tutunus (the phallic God). During this ceremony, a bride-to-be would lose her virginity by penetrating herself with a symbolic dildo before the wedding.

14th Century

In 14th century Italy, the word ‘olisbos’ was changed to ‘diletto’, which means “delight” or “pleasure” in Italian. 

This sex toy was embraced, and certainly played a part in the rise of the sex toy industry. It was also the beginning of making dildos more comfortable for the users by adjusting design.

18th Century

In 1738 France, the clockwork vibrator (aka the ‘tremoussoir’ in French), a wind-up handheld vibrator, was invented by a French physician. And as he continued to make more, he too started to sell them. 

Interestingly, it was not sold to individuals but rather, to suppliers who would go on to sell them as medical instruments in the American colonies in the 1750’s. 

Why? Well, it’s been said that these vibrators were used in doctor’s offices to treat women with “hysteria”. 

Back then however, hysteria was not what it is today. It was believed that hysteria was a woman’s uterus wandering around in her body as a result of lack of sex. It was also believed that when one suffered from hysteria, they would feel anxious, sleepy, irritable, and have erotic fantasies. 

Since the definition was so vague, it was easy for many women to feel “hysteria”. So, a cure was “invented.” That is, doctors would administer pelvic massages, including clitoral stimulation, to “hysteric women” as a means to make them feel happier, less anxious, less irritable, and more sexually fulfilled. 

The thinking behind this was that, if a woman had a solution to her hysteria, she would be less likely to visit the doctor’s office. 

What became of this situation? Women enjoyed visiting the doctor so much that they told all of their friends about it, creating a bigger need for personal vibrators at home.

It is important to note however, that the incidence of doctors treating hysteria in women with vibrators has recently come to the surface again, having been critiqued by academic researchers. These researchers found no evidence of the above-mentioned practice. On the other hand, many other reliable resources show that it did, in fact, take place.

19th Century

If one would like to thank the person who paved the way for more durable and robust sex toys and condoms, that person would be Charles Goodyear. 

Surprisingly though, Goodyear did not set out to achieve this amazing task. In fact, he accidentally discovered how to vulcanise rubber, which allowed others to do the same in order to make sex toys.

It was also in the 18th century when George Taylor, M.D. created a device called the “Manipulator”. 

This device would push a rod that created movement on a handle in such a way that someone would feel vibrations or oscillations when used. They could sit or stand to receive these movements from the machine. After this invention, a slew of doctors came up with similar devices.

Then, in 1895, the motion picture was invented. This changed everything, as it allowed pornography to be displayed—pornography that showed women using sex toys, such as strap-on dildos and massagers.

20th Century

By the beginning of the 20th century, more than 20 vibrator models were available. In fact, the vibrator was the fifth household device to run on electricity—10 years prior to the vacuum cleaner! 

Then, in 1972, Gosnell Dunan and a General Electric chemist came up with the magical formula to make body-safe silicone. 

This was an extraordinary invention in the world of sex toys, as it allowed people who used them to feel more comfortable and not have irritated skin.

Body-safe silicone also has other impressive qualities, such as being heat-resistant and not having a strong odour.

Fast forward a year or two, and Dunan created a dildo factory in his basement, creating these sex toys under the name “Paramount Therapeutic Products”, later to be called “Scorpio Products”.

After this, sex therapist Joani Blank opened up the first ever sex toy store, Good Vibrations, that sold vibrators in a sex-positive space with a women-centred approach. 

The 21st Century

Finally, we get to the part where sex toys became more mainstream in the 2000’s. They were shown in popular sitcoms, tv shows, and films. One such show, Sex and the City, led to extreme popularity of the rabbit vibrator. This of course, led to more people wanting to own vibrators, and boosted the sale of sex toys exponentially.

Then, when 2010 came around, we were living in a much different world. A world that came with the mobile phone, and mobile apps. 

This allowed people to use sex toys remotely—first via Bluetooth and later, via an app. The latter changed the face of sex toys, as it permitted people to control their (play) partner’s vibrator from anywhere in the world. It also paved the way for the camming industry to thrive. 

Jump to today, and we’re looking at a different way of thinking, with folks being more sex positive, liberal, and with a desire to embrace their sexuality. 

It is easier than ever to buy different sex toys to satisfy your lusts, and the ability to use them both online and offline.

The fact is: the sex toy industry today is a multi-billion dollar market. In 2015, it sat at a whopping $15 billion dollars, and the prediction is that it will be around $52 billion dollars by 2026. 

To sum up, sex toys occupy a large place in human history. Spanning across centuries, continents, and cultures, many phallus-like objects were used as a means to gain sexual gratification. What does that tell us? No matter who you are or where you’re from, sexual pleasure is a human right.