From being carried around high streets as part of stag and hen dos on a Saturday night to being kept as a sordid secret in bedrooms across the country, these days a blow-up sex doll is more easily accessible than ever before.
If you’re wondering who invented the sex doll, we’re here to help.
There are so many myths regarding the invention’s inception, from Nazi orders to lonely sailors, we’ve put together a comprehensive guide to who invented the blow-up doll.
What Is A Sex Doll?
While we think it’s probably quite self-explanatory before we turn our attention to who exactly invented the sex doll we should probably define exactly what one is.
The modern blow-up doll is an inflatable sex toy that is used by either individuals or couples for sexual gratification.
These days, blow-up dolls can be made anatomically correct and extremely accurate, with options available in a whole host of shapes, sizes, skin tones and ethnicities- meaning varieties are available to suit every taste and preference.
Some even incorporate voices and robotic movement to provide the user with the most realistic experience possible.
But who actually invented the blow-up doll?
Read on to find out more…
Did Hitler Invent The Blow-up Doll?
Over the years there has been much speculation regarding the origins of the sex doll, with one of the most commonly held beliefs that it was ordered to be invented by former German dictator and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
But is there any actual evidence to suggest this?
Well, the biggest reason for this claim goes back to a letter sent by the highest-ranking SS officer Heinrich Himmler to Hitler in 1940. At the time the Nazis occupied France and Himmler was concerned about the number of Nazi soldiers catching syphilis due to spending time in Paris brothels.
With this in mind, it’s believed that Hitler then ordered ‘Project Borghild’ to take place which involved sending ‘a travelling army of gynoids’ (in other words sex dolls) to France to satisfy the soldiers and keep them free of sexually transmitted diseases.
While there is evidence to suggest some research went into the project, Himmler is thought to have paused the work in 1942 and there is no evidence of any blow-up dolls ever making it to France.
However, whether or not this story is a hoax is immaterial.
This is because there is evidence of sex dolls existing long before the Nazi’s rise to power, meaning that Adolf Hitler was certainly not the inventor of the product.
Who Invented The Blow-up Doll?
So, if Hitler and the Nazis were not the creators of blow-up dolls, who were?
Since the beginning of time, there has been evidence of humans having intercourse with life-like objects. Therefore, it’s hard to pinpoint an exact inventor.
Many historians point to the fact that rubber wasn’t invented until 1745 and it took until the 20th century for latex to be created, indicating that the blow-up doll as we know it today is a fairly modern invention.
However, there is evidence of sex dolls existing far earlier than that.
For instance, there is a story dating back from the times of the Ancient Greeks that indicates a sexual attraction to statues. The story goes that the sculptor Pygmalion became so enamoured with his creation that he fell in love and had a sexual relationship with it. It’s hard to say for sure how much truth there is to such a tale, yet it is evidence of the idea of sexually interacting with an inanimate object which, after all, is what a blow-up doll is.
If you’re not convinced and want some more clear-cut evidence, then let’s turn our attention to sailors.
In the 17th century, sailors would spend months, or even years, away from home at sea. During this time they would often miss their wives and partners back home and there is written evidence of French and Spanish sailors fashioning their own sex dolls out of fabric stuffed with sawdust and straw. This is widely believed to be the first example of what eventually turned into the modern sex doll, although the visionary sailor to first craft such a creation remains a mystery.
Perhaps the first overt reference to commercial sex dolls appeared in the 1904 French novel The Misfits of Paris, where blow-up dolls were described as costing between 1,000-3,000 Francs (£5,000-£15,000). This shows that by around the turn of the century, sex dolls had become, if not common, certainly accessible although still remained illegal for a number of years.
To summarise, while the Nazis did not invent blow-up dolls it remains a bit of a mystery who did. However, one thing that we can say for sure is that the phenomenon is going nowhere.
Last modified: August 1, 2023
