Author: Megan Leggs

From the underground to the internet via some very dangerous backstreets.

 

Sex doll shops are taken for granted these days, especially some of the more common sex shops that are a regular part of city centers and strip malls, but they are a pretty modern development.

Euphemisms and Hidden Collections

 

In the first half of the 20th century, it would have been unthinkable for stores to openly sell pornographic paraphernalia and sexdoll. Condoms are sold in pharmacies or barbershops under euphemistic names – perhaps offering customers “something for the weekend, sir?” Pornography and sex dolls are primarily produced and sold outside the law, spreading through word of mouth and the black market. Products advertised in mail-order catalogs may seem innocuous. Still, they may have other uses if people knew what they were looking for (it seems complicated to imagine that every customer of Dr. Young’s Ideal Rectal Dilator wanted to solve a headache problem). Sex is often not discussed publicly or taught formally, assuming people will work it out independently. This doesn’t work. ​

Mail Order Equipment

 

In 1945, a German woman named Beate Uhse found herself unemployed. She was 24, widowed, had a young son, and had served as a (non-combat) Luftwaffe pilot during the war. Uther, who started out as a door-to-door salesman, found herself intimately familiar with the various family problems caused by a lack of sex education, from unwanted pregnancies to no understanding of sex at all. Uth, who grew up in a fairly progressive, liberal family, saw a gap in the market. She set up a mail-order company, initially selling pamphlets explaining the rhythm method, which later expanded to underwear, lotions, “marriage guides,” and “marital hygiene” advice.

 

Marital Hygiene Institute

By 1962, her company was doing so well that she opened a store, the world’s first modern sex shop, albeit with a less-than-modern name: The Marital Hygiene Institute. It grew into a chain, and within a decade, similar stores were spread across Europe and the United States. Different types emerge – Uther’s business is based on education and trying to help people enjoy sex. Still, these ideas are not on the agenda of many of the traditionally seedy, dodgy businesses in the red light district. ​

Red light Districts and Subdivisions

 

The sexual revolution of the 1960s meant that attitudes and laws were changing at breakneck speed, and there was a rush to keep up with each other. Laws controlling where certain businesses can operate, what can be displayed, or what can be seen through the windows have resulted in more stereotypical porn-filled sex shops and many underground sex doll shops catering mainly to men. These stores are mainly located in back streets and open-air shopping malls. However, from early on, businesses were also interested in creating spaces where women felt welcome. These establishments could operate in major shopping areas such as London’s Oxford Street but had to get creative in getting products into customers’ hands, using catalogs, mail-order systems, and Tupperware-style parties. ​

 

Community Centers and Sex Education

 

There are also many examples of sex doll shops serving as local centers for the LGBTQ community or participating in sex education and public sexual health programs. A now-defunct chain of cheap sex dolls was founded in the 1970s to help people with disabilities obtain sexual assistance. In 2002, a British sex shop chain worked with the National Health Service to prescribe vibrators to women experiencing sexual difficulties. ​

 

Split Store

This is a pretty broad generalization, but sex doll stores can largely be divided into two categories: those exclusively for heterosexual men and those open to everyone. Customers who feel unwelcome in the first group may feel less and less welcome over time, because in the 1980s and 1990s, pornography was relatively mainstream, which meant that what sex doll stores offered changed. To get more professional or extreme, many sex doll shops turn into porn shops, selling SM tools and clothing. It’s easy to see why potential customers of, say, and bondage ropes might choose not to buy one rather than drive to a mall outside of town, squeeze past all the guys buying sex dolls, and browse the dusty collection of cheap sex dolls.

The Impact of The Internet

 

Of course, the Internet has changed everything, allowing people who might be afraid of being seen stepping into even the most classic sex shop to buy anything they want. The ability to have items discreetly delivered to homes brought with it the revelation that there were a large number of customers who simply weren’t being satisfied. ​

 

The days of seedy backstreet sex doll shops may end, especially in city centers. There are better, more enjoyable options. Today’s successful sex doll retailers are accessible to all that is celebratory rather than mystical, joyful rather than dirty.