George Taylor's steam powered vibrators were perhaps the first patented mechanical vibrating devices made to stimulate female patients for relief of female hysteria and other "medical" problems. The first electromechanical vibrator was designed in 1880 by a British physician, Joseph Mortimer Granville. Although his model more closely resembled what we think of as a vibrator, Granville did not support the use of vibrating devices for inducing female orgasm. He intended it to be used to massage male skeletal muscles. However, the technology proved to be completely adaptable, as the millions of women who have used massagers know.
Reference Sources:
The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction by Rachel P. Maines
