Oh yeah, it's gonna be one of those videos with a big huge Mystery Box from the early 1900 era and what could possibly be inside here? It's an original Electric vibrator and by vibrator. Obviously, this wasn't for sexual pleasurement, this was only for massaging yourself and for healthful reasons. trying to put a date in this thing. The closest looking one I can find is a British company called OG and Co-limited Uh, London, Uh, Glasgow and Birmingham but I'm not sure if it is that one.

they called it the Acme Vibrator or Acum. but here's the odd thing also in this box, along with all the vibratory heads which are still rubbery, although some of them have degraded quite considerably in this box. I'll get the box out the way. I'll show you what's in here.

It's got the various knobly bits including melted rubbery stuff over that and this hard one goodness knows that isn't a fibrous disco. just God knows what that is and Cork and things. Oh, we'll keep this out. this is a little tool for instance.

I'll put this out the way. foreign. but these actually do hint at the Victorian electrotherapy era because these look like handheld electrodes for electrotherapy machines. and this looks like a Physicians tool for connecting a wire on and applying electricity to bits that needed healing with electricity.

So that might hint at the age of this. So let's it's got a scorpion plug in it. an unsleeve Square pin plug. There is a ground that is connected to the metal work.

I've not powered this up yet. Quite worried. gonna power it up though and we'll see what happens. It might just go bang.

so I'll put no I won't put anything in it yet I'll just sit it like that. This could get very loud indeed. So this switch in the handle here feels like it has multiple positions. don't know it's got intended positions.

Let's try plugging it in in the first position and see what happens. This is where because banging blows the lights out, nothing happened. That's a good start. Next position, it still works.

It does actually still work. Okay, let's put a thing in it is this wise. Oh I Can smell it. It smells like carbon brushes.

It's got carbon brushes. Uh, how old is this? I Just want to know how old this is now because this is ancient. It's got that look to it as well unless it's a reproduction. but I don't think it is.

So let's plug it in. It does have different speeds and that vibrates backwards and forwards. It shouldn't really be putting that on my hand. You just never know where that's been right? so we know it works.

That's good. Let's take it to bits. Oh, it's stinking of carbon brushes. Let's take this out.

So this has a very checkered history. These were sold originally as Health devices. If you had a headache, you were supposed to apply it to your head and by vibrating your head, that would get rid of the headache. And it comes with this tool that's quite nice.

It's very ornate, We'll put it on and we'll use it. It is unplugged at the moment. I Should mention that I am surprised it worked and didn't explode. That is very impressive.

Might be shaking slightly because you just never know when you've got something over 100 years old and you're plugging it in. And it's made of metal. so it's just a motor. a little washer there with a concentric shaft in it.

If you see the shaft, that is what's agitating. This matters and forwards. Interesting. Let's tip the brushes out.

Let's strip this thing to bits and see what condition it's in inside. So there's the brush. It's little cylindrical brushes that's quite cute. Yeah, so these things.

They were originally sold for helpful vibrations, but obviously they were used for other things. And uh, they were really popular for a while for reasons. And then in the 1920s, the mid-1920s they started appearing in erotic material being used by ladies upon themselves, and suddenly they became disrespectful. Oh, this doesn't actually go down there, so that's not designed for that bit.

Let's get the let's treat this with dignity and use the correct tool. Let's use a pair of pliers which is not quite the correct tool, but it's okay. So they fell out of favor in the 19 mid-1920s and then they got favor again in the late 1960s, but with their actual real purpose, they were just used for salacious filth. Then there's the motor.

It's in pretty good condition. bit dirty, but that's okay. what you expect. Okay, what is down inside here? The wires, including the earthwork.

Can you see that in there are just coming up out the side of that handle? I Kind of want to take this handle off. Oh, this little washer in there I'm not sure where that came from. that might be from the back. I'll guess it did come from the back from the bearing.

Um, right. Oh no, that is actually brush. that connection there. that's actually one of the brushes.

and that's when the brushes too. Oh, the wiring does look a bit perished in there. Tell you what about we take this handle off? Is this a good idea? Probably. And we'll see the speed control.

I'm going to guess it just switches windings. There is that theory that, uh, folklore that, uh, the first vibrators were used to relieve his steering ladies? I'm not sure that's quite as accurate as is implied. It's a nice story though, which is probably why it's popular. These are all fairly standard.

This will probably unscrew and then do I need to take this out. Is this sacrilege? Taking one of these two bits? It probably is, but you know what? it? uh, it saves. Mdl's taking the rest of bits. This is crunching slightly.

I Get the fuel. If the insulation was worn, it's definitely screwed now. Uh, my breasts. Oh that is super crumbly.

That is not safe at all. So here is the switching mechanism and it's sandwiched in the middle here that switches power through to the other side. How does that come apart? I Don't know if that will come apart because it's got things sold directly onto this. Um no.

I don't think I want to go any further into this as it is this is not safe to use really. I only see two wires Go off into that. Oh no. C3 there's three wires.

one is the common and one uh, the other ones are the uh. two speed controls going to the tapped windings. Yeah, if I disturb this, it's going to crumble and as it is, you know it's just a bit. Shady that looks like the standard insulation tip of the time where I'm around that the fabric rubberized fabric.

The Earth connection is coming around here and it is going on to what looks like the shaft with more sticky tape wrap around it. Oh, is that just taped onto the shaft? It must be bound on some other way. Yeah, I'd like to kind of open this but I just don't want to open this because I get the feeling that if I do part that it will potentially Springs or ping and it will ruin its authenticity. but I think we can tell that there is probably a little spring, the ball bearing or something because it clicks and it will just be sliding contacts.

I'd Guess that these connections on the side here are going to pads and then this is just a contact sliding around yes and then just a universal motor. It's quite neat. very simple just for that concentric shaft there. or you can see the the off-centered shaft.

Well, this shaft is Center and it's this bit here that does the vibrating backwards and forwards. Uh, very neat. So let me know if you could possibly even put a date in this thing. There's been a label across the top here, presumably at some point in time, but it doesn't have the same size as the only closest image.

I could find what? which was the OG and co-limited Um, but uh, this is it. This is your vintage vibrator for massaging your ailments away, are indeed pleasuring yourself. That is it. Uh, interesting.

I Wonder what the story is? Behind These I Wonder where the rest of the equipment is for these because as I say, these are handheld electrodes and absolutely nothing to do with this whatsoever. Uh, very interesting. It just basically gives an indication that the person who had this also was into electrotherapy in other ways as well from that era. Very interesting.

So there we have it. the electro massager from the past or as they actually code it back then, the vibrator. Bonus! extra footage. I'm exploring this a little bit deeper and this Flex looks more modern than the original Flex This could well date back a long way because having removed some, well, let me Zoom down.

This have removed some of the insulation here. The wires have been Twisted together, so perhaps there was an original wire that has been joined on too because I don't think they'd do this in the normal manufacturer. Could be wrong though. Maybe this was the standard rear manufacturing, but I really would think that the original Flex would have been soldered directly to these connection points because these are soldered and that makes me wonder what is the earth connection then? So let's see if we can get the Earth connection and see if that looks original or if it's been done later on as a safety feature.

so that is soldered on here. but again, the wire has been Twisted on by the look of it, let's get that off and we'll see what we have under here. Another Twisted connection I Think it is, it's right there. Endo or is it yeah, that looks as much kind of Twisted on.

Yeah, it's twisted there so this Flex may have been added later on and this may actually genuinely be a Victorian vibrator. Wow, that's incredible. That uh, really surprising the flex did make me think this looks like a slightly more modern, fairly good condition, rubbery sort of iron. Flex Um, but now that makes sense now seeing these.

Twisted pudding joints in here pudding joints is what we call them in UK when they basically twist The Joint again and wrap it in the black tape because it looked like a black pudding, the Temptation is to put a new flex into it perhaps our authentic Flex of the era onto this directly and then solder onto those connections which I have marked now just for reference. Um. But there we go. Interesting stuff.

It may actually have vintage pedigree after all.