Growing up, many of us took trips with our schools, family and friends to museums of art, history and technology, but now we can enjoy a museum strictly for adults, with the introduction of the Good Vibrations Antique Vibrator Museum.

The museum administered its grand opening last Thursday at the Good Vibrations sex toys retail shop in downtown San Francisco.

Good Vibrations has been in the business of providing pleasurable lifestyles and empowerment of women for the past 35 years.

Founder Joani Blank opened the first Good Vibrations store in the Mission District of San Francisco in 1977.

Fifteen years later, a second shop opened in Berkeley followed by the downtown San Francisco location, and in 2006 the first out of state store opened in Brookline, Mass.

According to the store’s website, “Good Vibrations is a diverse, woman-focused retailer providing high-quality, sex-positive products and non-judgmental, accurate sex information through our clean and comfortable stores, catalog, web site, wholesale division, product and movie production lines in order to enhance our customers’ sex lives and promote healthy attitudes about sex.”

Contrary to common assumptions, Good Vibrations is a store that sells more than just sex toys; it aims to promote healthy attitudes about sex and offers educational workshops as well.

The website states, “Good Vibrations is more focused on education than any of our competitors because we believe strongly that education is an important part of a good sex life and our staff Ph.D.s are always accessible to customers and staff alike. We welcome all of our customers’ questions and strive to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information available. Our Education Department tracks new research, current trends, and industry changes in order to keep our staff informed.”

For over 20 years, Blank collected a multitude of vibrators dating back from the 1800s to the 1970s and it is her collection that is showcased at the museum.

On the opening night of the Antique Vibrator Museum, about 100 curious spectators trickled into the one-of-a-kind museum.

The museum held four 30-minute tours to provide visitors with more detailed information on the vibrator, its history and common uses.

According to the website, “The electric vibrator had its inception in 1869 with the invention of a steam-powered massager, patented by an American doctor. This device was designed as a medical tool for treating ‘female disorders.’ Physicians employed vibrating devices in the treatment of ‘hysteria,’ which they viewed as the most common health complaint among women of the day.”

The museum showcased a different vibrator from each decade, allowing attendees to witness firsthand how the vibrator has evolved over time.

“A lot [of vibrators] have changed and some are the same,” said Good Vibrations Staff Sexologist and Antique Museum Curator Dr. Carol Queen. “Vibrators were invented before the toaster!”
During one of the tours, visitors were informed that the history of the vibrator was heralded as a medical wonder said to promote health, vigor and beauty in the user in the 19th century.

The website mentioned, “The vibrator was later marketed as a home appliance in women’s magazines and mail order catalogs. Vibrators continued to have an active commercial life in which they were marketed (much like snake oil) as cure-alls for ills ranging from headaches and asthma to ‘fading beauty’ and even tuberculosis!”

After getting the scoop on the history, pleasurable uses and health benefits of the vibrator, a number of attendees continued on to view the more modern vibrators available in the Good Vibrations shop and some even purchased a few of their own.

Lisa Trang Le contributed to this article.