Moment in Masturbation History: Sinful Inventions in the Early 1900s

Am I pleased to be living now.

The late 1800s to the early 1900s were dark days for masturbation. During this time both Corn Flakes and Graham Crackers were developed in an effort to curb masturbatory impulses in young boys (which were seen as leading to poor health, mental illness, and all manner of evil). Between 1856 and 1932 the U.S. Patent Office approved 33 patents for “anti-masturbation” devices. These torture devices developed by physicians and moralistic inventors alike ranged from spiked rings to male chastity belts to electrifying devices that would be sufficient for “burning the flesh” causing “great physical pain, and possible mutilation”.

Here are some examples antimasturbation devices:

1. Simple Bondage-- For some, the simple answer was to tie the masturbators up and prevent them from touching themselves.

2. Leather-Jacket Corset-- A corset made out of leather and steel to be used by boys, was created by Dr. Fleck in 1831. It included a metal penis tube and "a steel band riveted to the shield permanently and attached to the body with an encircling steel band in such a manner that it cannot be removed and prevented access to the testicles." The doctor once reported that "it closes with greatest accuracy, fits to perfection, and the boy wears it continuously without having succeeded even once in reaching his genitals or pulling the machine away from his body so as to produce friction on his genitals."

3. Spike-lined Ring-- Created to prevent the nocturnal emissions and any display of nighttime sexuality, spike-lined penis rings were created in the 1950's by doctors in Boston.

4. Spermatorrhea Bandage-- These devices kept the penis tightly bound, thus making it impossible to have an erection.

5. Stephenson Spermatic Truss-- Patented in 1876, this device placed the penis in a pouch, and then stretched and tied down between the legs, which made erection impossible. Stephenson changed his device slightly 21 years later, adding a metal hood under which the penis could move freely. Any erection would drive the penis against painful spikes.

6. Bowen Device-- This device was like a cup that was placed over the head of the penis and attached to pubic hair by chains and clips. When the wearer got an erection, the pubic hair would be plucked painfully and the wearer would have to respond.

7. The Cage-- The Handbook of Medicine in 1885 offered a metal cage that could be put around a boys genitals. It would allow erections, which weren't seen as wrong, yet would prevent the boy from touching himself.

8. Dr. Moodie Apparatus for Boys-- Scotch physician John Moodie invented this truss-and-shield device in 1848. It included a penis tube with a slot on the side for the boy to push his penis out in order to urinate.

9. Penis-Cooling Devices-- These devices cooled an impending erection with either air or water; Frank Orth invented both types and patented them in 1893. He said that "the penis is inserted in the hole and between the levers so that if during the night an erection occurs, the dilatation of the penis spreads the levers, thus separating the jaws, and permitting the cold water to flow through the tube to the sack or envelope. The cold water... cools the organ of generation, so that the erection subsides and no discharge occurs."

10. Sexual Armor-- A jacket with leather pants which supports a large piece of steel armor. Perforations in the armor allowed urine to escape, yet the bolted, padlocked trapdoor at the rear would have to be opened for other business...