{"id":1047,"date":"2013-03-12T09:24:34","date_gmt":"2013-03-12T09:24:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/?p=1047"},"modified":"2026-03-05T04:15:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T03:15:06","slug":"top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Breakthroughs in Sex Toy History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Believe it or not, sex toys are as old as the Stone Age \u2013 literally. In fact, archaeologists recently uncovered an 8-inch siltstone phallus tucked away in an ancient German cave that dates all the way back to 28,000 BC.<\/p>\n<p>Sex toys have certainly come a long way since the days of Fred and Wilma. We\u2019ve progressed from siltstone to silicone; bee powered (more on that in a sec) to battery powered and beyond.<\/p>\n<p>And as we get underway in celebrating our own storied past, it just wouldn\u2019t be appropriate to overlook the passion pioneers of yesteryear who have given us all the opportunity to pave a pleasurable path from you to \u2018O.\u2019<\/p>\n<h2>45 BC\u2014Cleopatra creates a buzz<\/h2>\n<p>Rumored to be the first woman to use a vibrator, Cleopatra orders a servant to hollow out a gourd and fill it with bees. Confined to such a small space, the bees\u2019 frantic movements vibrate the gourd enough to satisfy Egypt\u2019s queen bee.<\/p>\n<h2>1880\u2014Things get steamy<\/h2>\n<p>With cases of \u201cfemale hysteria\u201d on the rise in America, the demand for medical pelvic massage skyrockets. Fatigued by servicing female patients by hand all day, doctors are relieved by George Taylor\u2019s Manipulator\u2014a clunky steam-powered massage apparatus.<\/p>\n<h2>1902\u2014It\u2019s electric<\/h2>\n<p>Becoming just the fifth domestic appliance to be electrified, Hamilton Beach\u2019s electric vibrator hits store shelves, graces the coveted pages of the <em>Sears Roebuck<\/em> catalogue and electrifies American consumers.<\/p>\n<h2>1998\u2014Multiplying like rabbits<\/h2>\n<p>After being featured in the <em>Sex and the City<\/em> episode \u201cThe Turtle and the Hare,\u201d the rabbit vibrator, featuring a clitoral stimulator in the shape of rabbit\u2019s ears, ushers in a new age of product innovation, consumer demand, and sexual openness, awareness and health.<\/p>\n<p>Now that you\u2018re caught up on pleasure\u2019s past, we invite you to join us as we open a new, decade-long chapter of product innovation and sexual empowerment, sure to set the trends for sex toys of the future.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Enjoy 15% off <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LELO.com<\/a> with code <span style=\"color: #800080;\">VOLONTE15<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Believe it or not, sex toys are as old as the Stone Age \u2013 literally. In fact, archaeologists recently uncovered an 8-inch siltstone phallus tucked away in an ancient German cave that dates all the way back to 28,000 BC. Sex toys have certainly come a long way since the days of Fred and Wilma. We\u2019ve progressed from siltstone to silicone; bee powered (more on that in a sec) to battery powered and beyond. And as we get underway in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[313],"coauthors":[947],"class_list":["post-1047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sex-tips-advice","tag-history"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.8.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Exploring the History of the Vibrator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In praise of the passion pioneers of yesteryear, LELO highlights the top five breakthroughs in sex toy history.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Exploring the History of the Vibrator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In praise of the passion pioneers of yesteryear, LELO highlights the top five breakthroughs in sex toy history.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Volont\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LELO.Official\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-12T09:24:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-05T03:15:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/117.201303122055302714.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"170\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Donna Turner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Lelo_Official\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Lelo_Official\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Donna Turner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/\",\"name\":\"Exploring the History of the Vibrator\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/117.201303122055302714.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-12T09:24:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-05T03:15:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ee7d40fffc3a3ad51f9cb3b4fa664198\"},\"description\":\"In praise of the passion pioneers of yesteryear, LELO highlights the top five breakthroughs in sex toy history.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/117.201303122055302714.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/117.201303122055302714.jpg\",\"width\":280,\"height\":170},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/top-5-breakthroughs-sex-toy-history\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Volonte\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.lelo.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sex Tips &amp; 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