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Photos: Old Timey, Scary-Looking Vibrators That Cured "Hysteria"

Published May 16, 2012

Modified May 16, 2012

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It's often said that in 1917 there were more personal vibrators in American homes than there were toasters, but what did these vibrators look like? Scary, futurist pleasure robots. Babeland has an excellent gallery of vibrators of yore and their modern equivalents. Lets take a stroll BACK IN TIME when "hysteria" was still a disease.Babeland's co-founder Claire Cavanah will be giving a talk before the 9:30 screening of Hysteria at Sunshine Cinema on Friday night, and the first 50 people to buy tickets will get Babeland gift bags. We're not sure about Sunshine Cinema's official policy of pleasuring yourself in the theater, but if you keep it down and leave the juice at home you should be fine. Here's Dr. Carol Queen talking about old school vibrators, and if you want to get off like your great-grandmother did, there are plenty of cheap options on eBay. — Gothamist

Christopher Robbins

Published May 16, 2012

Modified May 16, 2012

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Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations