Page 30 - AVN Intimate Fall 2018

HITACHI 5-0
The Magic Wand reaches the half-century mark
≥ BY KIM AIRS
No Strings The Magic Wand Rechargeable, which came on the scene in 2015, delivered a cordless version of the “Cadillac of Vibrators.”
by millions of women for decades. It’s been called
It’s the massager that started it all. It’s been loved
the “Cadillac of Vibrators” and is undoubtedly
the most recognized massagers on the market for
the past 50 years.
It’s the (Hitachi) Magic Wand.
For those of you in the retail or sex education
segments of the adult industry, the Magic Wand
is the consistent go-to vibrator to recommend for
women who want the best buzz for the buck. Its
strength, reliability, power and ability to blend in
with other common household goods (no need
to stash it away in the nightstand) have made the
Magic Wand the best-selling vibrator of all time.
During its 50 years on the market, the Magic Wand
has transcended the history of any other sex toy on
the market by single-handedly impacting the sexual
satisfaction of countless women and changing the
way sex toys have been sold to consumers. The
history of the product itself clearly parallels the
history of sex toy retailing.
Hitachi, the Japan-based multinational
manufacturer of hundreds of products ranging
from huge construction machines to consumer rice
cookers, patented the iconic Hitachi Magic Wand
in 1968, an unbelievable 50 years ago. Originally
released as a long, ribbed, scepter-shaped appliance
with an equally ribbed, firm, soda-can-sized head,
the Hitachi, as it was known, provided two speeds
of reliable power by plugging it in, similar to the
standard Magic Wand that remains today. The
30 | INTIMATE | FALL 2018
main function of the Hitachi was to provide deep massage to muscles after exercise or on
shoulders after a tense day. There was no reference to it being a device for sexual satisfaction
until many years later.
In the early to mid-1970s, shortly after its introduction, the massager went through one of
several rebranding initiatives it would experience during its five-decade history. The color
was changed to an ever-so-trendy tan, beige and brown color (popular in the ’70s), and the
head was reconfigured to more closely resemble a tennis ball, complete with a softer density
for more comfortable massaging. Along with that came a new name: The Workout, proudly
embellished on the boxes with equally trendy depictions of women sporting running shorts
and tank tops.
In the mid-’70s, Hitachi changed the packaging again with a photograph of a fully clothed,
Farrah Fawcett-like model with a wispy “wings” haircut, gazing at the potential buyer with
a serious facial expression. Of course, there was a smaller image of the Magic Wand added to
her provocative stare to remind those buyers exactly what was in the inside of the package.
While the Magic Wand was gaining popularity in the general consumer market, there
was a feminist movement beginning to percolate with New York City’s sex educator and
artist Betty Dodson (aka “The Mother of Masturbation”) leading the way. Beginning with
her groundbreaking book released in 1974, Liberating Masturbation, Dodson believed women
would achieve orgasm more frequently and pleasurably by co-opting a reliable, plug-in
massager placed firmly on the clitoris during masturbation sessions. She was right.
Betty began hosting her infamous women-only Bodysex workshops for women in New
York City in the early ’70s, relying on the readily available (and much larger) Panasonic
Panabrator massager. Sporting a flatter, circle-shaped head, the Panabrator was used for
clitoral stimulation during the group masturbation sessions. Soon after Betty experienced the
Hitachi—with its more compact head and lighter weight—she felt it was easier to use for her
sessions and started incorporating the Hitachi into her workshops instead.
One woman who signed up for her workshop around 1973 was a shy, petite advertising
executive named Dell Williams. Williams had met Betty years earlier at a yoga retreat and
waited a few years to contact Betty about her Bodysex workshops. During the workshop,
Williams was captivated by her experience using the Hitachi and went to purchase one on
her own. She wandered into her local Macy’s and asked the clerk for a massager. When the