Who invented the jolly molly

The sex toys of yesteryear are currently on display at Littledean Jail in the Forest of Dean , a former house of correction, police station and courthouse turned visitor attraction. Exhibits include Dr Macaura's Pulsocon Hand Crank Vibrator, which dates back to and resembles an old-fashioned egg whisk.

Despite its liberal, sexy connotations, the modern-style vibrator was actually invented by respectable Victorian doctors, who diagnosed pelvic massage as a common treatment for well-heeled ladies deemed to be suffering from "hysteria". This is one of the earliest vibrators. This scary contraption was actually steam-powered and coal-fueled. You know, like trains. This one was actually invented in the 18th century, meaning it was actually invented a hundred years before the shower head.

In fact, I don't think it's a giant leap to suggest this pressurized water-shooting device is an early ancestor of the shower head. Going by this logic, when you're taking a shower, you're actually standing under a glorified vagina hose.

Eventually someone must have realized steam-powered vibrators were just super weird, so an electrical one was developed. Now, I'm assuming it looked a little less gnarly when it was brand new. If there is a silver lining in all this horribleness, although I'm not sure there is, that would certainly be a contender. In fact, women apparently liked the vibrators so much they started looking for furtive ways to get easier access to them without having to go to the doctor.

This face massager removes wrinkles and cures headaches. You know, apart from getting women off real fast, that is.

Essentially, as our understanding of psychology developed, people started to realize the hysteria umbrella diagnosis made less and less sense. By the 50s, it had completely disappeared, along with this practice of doctor's office orgasms. It only took us 2, years. Men, it seems, are excruciatingly slow learners. The invention of electricity made the task easier.

Joseph Mortimer Granville patented an electromechanical vibrator in the early s to relieve muscle aches, and doctors soon realized it might be used on other parts of the body. Patients were happy, too. The number of health spas offering vibration therapy multiplied, and the service was so popular vibrator manufacturers warned doctors not to overdo it with the modern appliance: if they met relentless patient demand, even mechanical vibration could be tiring.

By the turn of the century needlework catalogues advertised models for women who wanted to try the treatment at home, making the vibrator the fifth electric appliance to arrive in the home—after the sewing machine, the fan, the teakettle and the toaster. In the American Psychiatric Association dropped hysteria from its list of recognized conditions. When the vibrator was again popularized years later, women no longer needed the pretense of illness to justify a purchase.

Hugh Dancy stars, opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal, as the ambitious young doctor, Mortimer Granville, whose job is to treat women who suffer from a disorder of the uterus known as hysteria - a catch-all diagnosis for women who were suffering from anything ranging from a headache to depression to disobedience. The diagnosis was only dropped in the s.

Luckily for Victorian women, all these symptoms could be treated by relieving tensions within the womb using "digital manipulation" - a time-consuming and laborious job for doctors. When he gets the job, Granville's boss tells him, with a deadly serious expression, that "an extra pair of hands" would be useful. But, my God, if that's what they were offering, wouldn't we all go to the doctors a lot more?