The Magic Wand Turns 50!
2018 is a big year for sex toy anniversaries. The We Vibe turned 10 this year. But the We Vibe looks like a baby compared to another toy sharing an anniversary this year. The Magic Wand, first known as the Hitachi Magic Wand, was introduced to North America in 1968.
Although the Magic Wand was originally designed as a neck and should massager, I'm sure it didn't take long for people to realize that it could massage a lot more. It didn't begin to gain major popularity, however, until Betty Dodson began using the Hitachi in her popular Bodysex workshops, in which she taught women to masturbate. Around the same time, in the mid 1970's the owners of the very first women-owned, feminist sex toys shops, Eve's Garden, in New York, and Good Vibrations in San Fransisco began carrying the Magic Wand. It was one of the few vibrators available that wasn't shaped like a phallus and wasn't marketed with men in mind. In an age when sex toys were not discussed openly and sold only by mail order or in back alley porn stores, the sleek, simple design and packaging of the Magic Wand was appealing. It also didn't hurt that it was far more powerful that those jelly rubber phalluses. It was perfect for women who had never experienced an orgasm and/or needed to give themselves permission to experience pleasure.
Flash forward 50 years and the Magic Wand is still one of the best-selling sex toys on the market.
It was not without it's bumps, however. We almost lost the Magic Wand in the late 90's when Hitachi's dumped it's only North American distributor for non-payment of bills. Thankfully Vibratex, a North American distributor of Japanese sex toys, was able to make an arrangement to take up the North American distributorship of the Wand.
In 2012, our Magic Wand supply was threatened again when Hitachi decided they did not want to be associated with sex toys. They informed Vibratex that they were going to stop producing the wand. Imagine the horror! Fortunately, Vibratex came to rescue again and proposed to Hitachi that they continue to produce the wand but take their name off it completely. They renamed in the Original Magic Wand and continued production as usual. In fact, they actually upgraded the circuity and the changed the head to silicone - even better quality than the vinyl it has previously been made of.
All good things come to those who wait, and in 2015, we finally got the rechargeable Magic Wand. This version added two speeds, one lower than Original Magic Wand speeds, and one even higher. The rechargeable Magic Wand quickly became on of the best selling toys in North America. In 2017, it was our 5th biggest selling toy, outsold only by the We Vibe sync and a few other much lower-priced items. In spite of the major update represented by the rechargeable, the original corded version still remains a great seller. Vibratex believes that the number of both Magic Wands sold over the 50 years since it came to North America would easily reach in the tens of millions.
Sometimes the oldies really are the goodies. Happy 50th birthday to one of our very favourite toys.