I bet you’re surprised to know that the history of sex toys goes back almost 30,000 years. In this post, we’ll dive into the earliest known toy and what the future may hold for toys of all types.
Table of Contents
Upper Palaeolithic Period
The history of sex toys goes all the way back 30,000 years and comes in the form of phallic batons from the Upper Palaeolithic period (between 50,000 and 12,000 years ago). These earliest sex toys were constructed of bone, ivory, and even teeth. I use the term sex toys loosely as they were primarily dildoes. Not only were some found in Germany but also in other parts of Eurasia.
According to archeologist Timothy Taylor, batons shaped like phalluses found in Eurasia between 40,000 and 10,000 BCE may have been used as dildoes because “they fall within the size range of modern dildoes.” They may also have been used for “ritual defloration” of young women.
The oldest known dildo is a 28,000-year-old phallus discovered in southwestern Germany in the Hohle Fels Cave in the Swabian Jura region by the archeologist Petra Kieselbach.
This 28,000-year-old dildo is a paleolithic stone phallus that archeologists rebuilt from some 14 fragments of siltstone found at the site. Once it was reconstructed, it was almost 8 inches long and about 1.1 inches wide.
While no one can say for sure, it is thought it could be used as a dildo or even a tool. From the photo, you can see that it looks an awful lot like a penis which, in my mind, leaves little doubt, but I’m sure implements of that era served many uses. Some experts suspect it may have even doubled as a sharpening implement.
28,000-year-old phallus discovered in southwestern Germany
Speaking about the phallus, Professor Nicholas Conard of Tübingen University stated that ‘”Female representations with highly accentuated sexual attributes are very well documented at many sites, but male representations are very, very rare.” Playfully, he went on to say that it was “highly polished.”
Ultimately, the true use of these artifacts can’t be known beyond a doubt. Certainly, whether they were used as dildos, tools, or ritual items will remain a mystery; however, they provide insight into the significance of erections in the minds of our ancestors.
I think it’s worth noting that something as primal as sex and its importance in our lives cannot possibly change much over millennia. We think of ourselves as modern and sophisticated beings, but what feels good now felt good then, and our ancestors wanted more of it, which is understandable.
Various artifacts found from around the world in this period
500 BCE
The history of sex toys is also present in Greek culture. As a result of their embrace of sexuality, the Ancient Greeks were known to use dildos. The first documented use of a dildo dates back to Ancient Greece when merchants sold a tool called an olisbos.
The term olisbos (plural olisboi) is a Greek word for a sex toy made of leather, wood, or ivory in the shape of an erect penis. The term is derived from the Greek words ὀλισθάνω (“to slip out”) and βόλλος (bollos), meaning “lump”.
The equivalent in Latin is “peniculus” which likely meant “slider”, and was also originally referred to as a type of musical instrument that one slid along strings. Like the word nkfjxrQov (“striker”) it subsequently came to designate the dildo. A number of other terms were also used to designate the dildo in ancient Greek.
More commonly, the Olisbos referred to a type of dildo-like object widely found in Ancient Greece (but also in other parts of the world). I was usually made from leather and then stuffed with other materials that would fill it out to the desired size and then polished.
Carved phallus, from Deir el-Bahari, West Thebes (wood, 13 cm/5.1 in)
This wooden phallus represents fertility in the New Kingdom (18th-20th Dynasty, Egypt, ca. 1550-1070 BCE). It was found as an individual object rather than attached to a statue, which some had speculated.
The cup below was made around 500 BC in Attica, Greece, and probably depicts a naked courtesan or entertainer performing a sexually explicit show while holding two dildo-like objects.
Amphora attributed to the Flying Angel Painter depicting a basket of phalli and a maiden holding a large phallus.
In prehistoric times, dildo-like objects have been found, but their use remains speculative. By contrast, ancient Greek art confirms that the olisbos were used explicitly for sexual purposes.
A rare image on this vase, dated 470 BC, has been interpreted in various ways; some claim it shows a parade of women during the Haloa near Athens. Here, phalli were offered as offerings for fertility to Demeter and Dionysus. It has been suggested that the figure may be a hetaera or prostitute with an artificial phallus, an olisbos. It is also believed that an Olisbos was given to wives by their warriors’ husbands before they went off to battle.
This sculpture isn’t about a sex toy, but it represents how important sexuality was to the ancient Egyptians. As the Brooklyn Museum describes the piece, “Despite the overtly sexual imagery, this composition has important religious content. The procreative union recalls the birth of Horus after the murdered Osiris posthumously impregnated his wife Isis. This legend, one of ancient Egypt’s most important myths, was associated with fertility and resurrection. The six small figures probably represent priests. The bound oryx held by the two attendants at the right signifies the destruction of evil and reinforces Osiris’s triumph.”
Obviously sculpted by a man – Brooklyn Museum
200 BCE – 200 CE
China’s Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE) yielded discoveries in 1995 and subsequently near what is present-day Shanghai that added to the history of sex toys. While exploring the tombs of 2000-year-old aristocrats, archeologists found artifacts such as art and objects detailing their everyday existence, from vessels and ceramics, urinals and loofahs to bronze dildos and jade butt plugs.
Further excavations revealed two hollow bronze phallus-shaped objects that were likely worn during sex to enhance pleasure. Some speculate that the flange on the base may have allowed it to be used as something like a strap-on.
A 2nd century BC bronze phallus was unearthed from Tomb 1 in Dayun Mountain, Jiangsu. Nanjing Museum, China
Discovered inside the tomb of an aristocrat from the Han Dynasty (206BC – 8AD) by archaeologists in Yizheng.
“Useable bronze dildos are still relatively rare finds, though far from unheard of, and they are occasionally found in elite tombs,” archeologist and exhibition curator Fan Zhang added. “They were all definitely made for use, and we can speculate based on their various bases how they were worn. They’re all bespoke, and the ones we have here might have been laced into place with leather or silk thongs, though it’s not clear if they were designed for men or women — they’re not heavy at all — though the phallus without the ring form was likely for a man since it was found in a king’s tomb.”
On an interesting side note, legend has it that in 50 BCE, Queen Cleopatra filled a hollow gourd with bees, causing it to vibrate and allegedly creating the first vibrator! How cool is that?
27 BCE – 476 CE
In 1992, archaeologists discovered an oblong-shaped wooden object in northern England near Hadrian’s Wall at the Roman Vindolanda fort site.
The artifact, which is over 6 inches long, is actually a “large, disembodied phallus,.” The phallus was carved from ash and unearthed at the site.
Past excavations have discovered Roman-era phalluses made of metal and stone. Still, the newly discovered phallus is the era’s first known life-sized specimen made of wood.
Researchers have imagined that there could have been several theories about its use.
Study co-author Rob Collins, an archaeologist at Newcastle University, said, “Often in archaeology, when we find an object, we can tell what it was used for—or deduce what it was used for. That wasn’t the case for this object. We have had to cast our nets wide in thinking, what would a six-and-a-half-inch wooden carving of a phallus be used for? We had some very interesting discussions.” No doubt.
The researchers have three theories.
The first, and perhaps most apparent, is that the object was used sexually.
However, a person of power may also have used the object for violent purposes.
“It would be easy to cast such an object as silly and frivolous and just about sexual gratification, but it could be a tool for perpetuating power imbalance and subjugation,” said Collins.
A second theory is that the Romans used the object to grind food or medicines. A suggestion was made that perhaps the Romans thought the phallic shape of the pestle helped permeate the ingredients with magical properties.
Finally, the third theory is that the phallus was once attached to a statue near the entrance to a significant building and could have been touched for good luck as a person entered.
500 CE – 1300 CE Medieval Sex Toys
The Catholic Church held immense power throughout the medieval era and, therefore, had an important impact on the history of sex toys in a repressive way, prioritizing matters of sexuality while enforcing strict regulations through its priests. Even within the confines of marriage, sexual relations were to be solely for procreation purposes. Any objects or devices designed to enhance pleasure were condemned as tools of evil.
Female masturbation was deemed a grave sin, whereas male masturbation conveniently remained unaddressed. What a surprise.
The primary sources of information on the use of sex toys in the Middle Ages are penitential manuals and trial records. Penitential manuals list prohibitions, while trial records document charges.
The English penitential of Saint Bede from the 8th century mentions the prohibition of dildos along with the ban on lesbian sex in penitential manuals dating back to the 7th century; “If nuns with a nun, using an instrument, seven years’ penance.“
In the 9th century, the author Hincmar of Reims writes of such women, “They do not put flesh to flesh as in the fleshly genital member of one into the body of the other, since nature precludes this, but they do transform the use of that part of their body into an unnatural one: it is said that they use instruments of diabolical operations to excite desire.“
At the end of the 10th century, the Burchard of Worms 17 created a penance manual (along with others that were written at the time) with sex-related questions. One of them was:
“Have you done what certain women are wont to do, contriving a certain engine or mechanical device in the form of the male sexual organ, the dimensions being calculated to give you pleasure, and binding it to your own or another woman’s pudenda, and have you thus committed fornication with other evilly disposed women or they, using the same or some other apparatus, with yourself?” In modern parlance, do you enjoy using dildoes on yourself or others? If yes was the answer, you were punished.
It wasn’t until around 1400 AD that the word “dildo” first appeared in our research into the history of sex toys. The origin is from the Latin word “dilatare,” which means “to open wide,” and the Italian word “diletto,” which means “to delight.” I’m sure you would agree; I think it’s well-named.
18th-Century History of Sex Toys
In the 1750s, medical instrument suppliers in the American colonies began selling the clockwork vibrator, or tremoussoir. It was an imaginative device that allowed a woman to control a dildo for pleasure mechanically.
In spite of the fact that the devices were expensive and, therefore, mostly purchased by physicians, there was no obstacle in law or custom to allowing anyone with the means to purchase them.
Example of a tremoussoir vibrator Courtesy Vibrator Museum – Ann Arbor, Michigan
19th-Century Sex Aids
In 1844, we hit a milestone in the history of sex toys: the development of vulcanized rubber. Remember the wooden dildo from ancient times? Now we don’t have to worry about splinters! When Charles Goodyear accidentally discovered how to vulcanize rubber, he revolutionized the car industry and, unwittingly, the sex toy industry. Rubber was vulcanized to become stronger and more durable, which led to the development of condoms, dildos, and other sex toys.
In other news, Inventor George Taylor, M.D., designed a steam and foot/hand crank device in 1869. His “Manipulator” pushed a rod to create a movement on a handle or padded surface by turning a wheel. Either the patient holds on to the handle and receives vibration or oscillations or sits or stands against a padded surface and receives movement from the machine. The steam pressure valve on it looks like it would be a cause for concern!
George Taylor, M.D’s Manipulator
Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville patented the first electromechanical vibrator. Originally called a percussor or, more colloquially, “Granville’s hammer,” the machine was manufactured and sold to physicians to relieve muscle aches.
Dr. Joseph Mortimer Granville’s “Granville’s Hammer”
The medical profession had access to at least a dozen models. Among the vibrating devices were musical vibrators, counterweighted vibrators, vibratory forks, undulating wire coils referred to as vibratiles, ceiling vibrators, table vibrators, floor models on rollers, and palm-sized devices.
Originally, vibrators were powered by hand cranks and water. They look a lot different now. It is common to see large battery-operated vibrators from the 1960s that look like phallic things made of hard plastic. Because women are entering the industry today, you’re getting non-realistic vibrators that don’t even look like sex toys. They’re really cute, and it’s a big change from realistic toys.
1880’s
Dr. Gerald Macaura developed the Pulsocon Hand Vibrator in the 1880s and sold it until the early 1900s, primarily through the Sears catalog. It vibrated up to 5,000 times per minute.
Although it looked like torture equipment, this device required considerable effort to operate because one had to hold one end and manually turn the crank handle while placing the other end on the body. It can be used to treat different ailment symptoms by self-administering
Credit Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times
1890’s
In the early days of the motion picture, filmmakers began producing the first pornographic films with shots of women masturbating with various sexual aids of the time, including strap-on dildos and massagers.
Among the most popular dildos was Young’s dilator, marketed for its ability to treat everything from enlarged prostate to constipation to asthma! Still, many people purchased the devices with other intentions.
An advertisement for a Rectal Dilator
In 1870, the grand fancy bijou catalog of the sporting man’s emporium advertised a dildo for the first time. It was advertising a “dildoe or artificial penis” and went on to describe it as an “instrument made of white rubber and is a wonderful facsimile of the natural penis of a man”
20th Century
Sex toys circa the early 1900’s, there were more than 20 vibrator models offered, powered by electricity, batteries, foot power, or water power. Prices ranged from $15 to $200 for the Chattanooga, “the Cadillac of vibrators.” That’s about $7,000 in 2023!
Advertisement for The Chattanooga
Ten years before the vacuum cleaner and the iron, the vibrator was the fifth household appliance to be electrified. Most of these devices were advertised in respectable women’s magazines like Modern Priscilla, Women’s Home Companion, McClure’s, and Good Housekeeping.
Erotic artwork is present through practically all eras and civilizations, and the Japanese category of “shunga” (Japanese erotic art) encompasses a wide range of art forms, from lurid mythological scenes to a form of hardcore pornography today. As opposed to many of the, shall we say “straightforward” shunga offered today, this woodblock is an exciting piece of shunga from the early 20th Century.
Shunga woodblock print picture by a member of the Tomioka Eisen School
1930
As the presence of vibrators increased in pornographic films, it became increasingly challenging for manufacturers to promote these products as innocent massagers and be advertised in “respectable” publications. Gradually, they vanished from esteemed magazines and mail-order catalogs.
In the 1930s, rubber latex was uncovered, derived from tapping the Hevea tree. This particular type of rubber offered several advantages over vulcanized rubber: it was softer, lighter, and more flexible. Consequently, condoms and diaphragms experienced a revolutionary transformation while paving the path for the creation of enduringly favored latex sex toys.
Latex being extracted from a Hevea Brasiliensis tree
1971
In 1971, feminist icon Betty Dodson introduced Bodysex Workshops in New York City. Bodysex helped women discover their bodies and erogenous zones, repair shame, improve pleasure, and promote self-love.
In these guided workshops, women explore their bodies and masturbate together with the goal of learning how to have an orgasm. These session centered on vibrator usage relying on two electric vibrators named the Prelude and the Panabrator. Betty Dodson’s acclaim and fondness for the Hitachi Magic Wand vibrator is legendary.
Panasonic’s Panabrator
A modern version of the Hitachi Magic Wand
Betty Dobson leading a class in New York City
1972 – Gosnell Duncan; The Hero of Vibrators
After an automobile fell on mechanic Gosnell Duncan while he was welding it, paralyzing him from the waist down and leaving him impotent, he explored his limited options for alternative penile prostheses in 1965.
“In the 1970s…most dildos were made of heat-treated rubber and would melt with heat,” Duncan said. “I wanted to have a product that was different…. Something that…you couldn’t [melt] by washing and cleaning it.” Gosnell, through much research, discovered that dildoes were mostly made from skin irritating materials so he knew he had to find an alternative for his idea to become practical.
As an auto mechanic, he was fascinated by silicone’s heat-resistant properties and its absence of strong chemical odors. Because of its ability to withstand boiling water sterilization, it has been explored for its potential use in making safe dildos for partners to share. However, silicone used in automobile parts was unsuitable for contact with the body.
Duncan contacted General Electric, who referred him to a company manufacturing silicone at the time. Over nine months, they corresponded, trying to come up with the ideal silicone. It needed to be smooth, resemble flesh, and safe to ingest.
After the desired compound was created, Duncan established a lab in his basement called Paramount Therapeutic Products (later named Scorpio Products) to sell silicone dildos. At first, Duncan sold his dildos to people with disabilities but soon found he could not profit from them.
As a result, Duncan sought the opinion of Dell Williams, a renowned feminist who owned Eve’s Garden sex toy store. His initial dildo design closely resembled male genitalia, complete with veins, coloring, and a head. However, upon receiving feedback from Williams about her reluctance to sell products that resembled penises, Duncan considered her suggestions. As a result, he created The Venus – a simple silicone dildo that resembled a finger instead. Not only was it body-safe, but it also had a supple texture and could withstand high temperatures. As an added feature, it was available in light pink and chocolate brown as alternative options.
Gosnell Duncan and his wife, Angela
The Wrap-up
According to the latest figures from 2021, the worldwide sex toy industry is worth about 34 billion dollars, with projected growth to as much as 81 billion by 20230.
In researching this, I didn’t find it particularly surprising that the history of the sex toy date back 30,000 years simply because sex and pleasure are primal urges. Put another way, why wouldn’t ancient peoples be interested in discovering new ways to pleasure themselves and each other? After all, 30,000 years ago, we didn’t have social media to entertain ourselves at night.
