20. Coal Fueled Steam Vibrators
The late nineteenth century’s medical community believed that there was a female hysteria epidemic. Some leading physicians estimated that up to three out of every four American women suffered from the malady. However, the cure of inducing “female paroxysm” in patients was a time-consuming task. It was difficult to teach and learn, doctors complained that it often took an hour or more, and many suffered wrist fatigue – carpal tunnel syndrome, as we would call it today. In a nutshell, doctors were getting sore wrists from fingering female patients to orgasm.
So physicians began turning to mechanical vibrators. The first steam-powered vibrator, fueled by packing coal into a furnace, was invented in 1869. However, such vibrators were bulky and cumbersome contraptions, some as big as a dining room table. They took up too much space in doctors’ offices, and were too cumbersome to tote around in a medical kit back for house visits.
