Our Excitement Builds for Hysteria, Film Opens May 18th

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Our Excitement Builds for Hysteria, Film Opens May 18th

We couldn’t think of anything better than a romantic comedy about the invention of the vibrator that addresses the issues about women’s right to control their bodies. Hysteria, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy, opens in theaters on May 18th and we’ll be there! Literally. Claire Cavanah, Babeland’s co-founder, is doing an introduction to the 9:30pm showing at the Sunshine Cinema on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. She’ll showcase vibrators from Babeland’s vintage vibe collection and show their modern day counterparts. If you’re in New York City, please join us there. The first 50 ticket holders also get a sexy surprise with a Babeland Gift Bag.

Make a Date Of It
Plan a date night and go see Hysteria with your lover. After the movie, stop by Babeland with the glow of the romantic-comedy in you and show us your ticket stub to get 15% off your purchase. You can check out our Vintage Vibes Exhibits in our stores in Brooklyn, SoHo and Seattle and learn more about the evolution of the vibrator, then pick out sexy new toys to take home and try out. The offer extends through June 30th in all stores.

If you want to learn more about the history of the vibrator and why it passed in and out of social acceptance, visit our Vintage Vibes Museum for information, interviews, and images of toys from our collection.

All Abuzz About Vintage Vibrators

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 13:56:19 GMT

Have you ever wondered where your Minna Ola or Gigi came from, technically speaking? Sex toys have been found in the world since prehistoric times when they were carved out of rocks. The toys we know and love today are evolutions of basic shapes that fueled the fantasies of our ancestors. The history of vibrators has some fascinating high points and tells the story of the social movements that have brought us to our hedonistic contemporary view that sexual pleasure is our birthright.

Babeland’s social history project debuts online at www.vintagevibrators.com. History buffs, techies, collectors, and sex toy fans should all enjoy these novel antiques.

Scroll through the exhibits, imagining yourself being treated for “hysteria” by one of the more tortuous looking devices, or marvel at the beauty-aid imagery used to market early-model vibrators to consumers. Wow your next dinner party guests with vibrator history anecdotes, including the ultimate proof that necessity is the mother of all invention: doctors experienced repetitive motion stress from manual stimulation of their patients, which ultimately led to the invention of this labor-saving device. You can even trace the lineage of your vibrator to its nineteenth century predecessor in the entertaining Modern Classics section.

One thing we learned during this project is that vintage vibrators come with stories. What’s yours? Did you find one in Grandma’s closet? In the attic of your new house? Share your story with us here or email a photo and the backstory to us at marketing@babeland.com and we’ll post it. We want to start a collection of your vintage sex toys, so if we post your photo, we’ll send you a coupon good for $10 off your next order.