Those NAUGHTY Victorians!

It wasn't all top hats, big dresses and chimney sweeps. Behind the scenes the Victorians were having naughty fun with "medical" devices used to cure their hysteria and other ailments.

This is an original Dr Young's self retaining "dilator" which was claimed to cure many ailments including bad breath (!), apathy, constipation, piles, anemia, pallour, weakness, insomnia, stress, diarrhea, headaches, flatulence, indigestion, insanity and many other things.

Yes, I sterilised the livin' bejesus out of it when it arrived from eBay!

Here's the Wikipedia article that thankfully doesn't reference their full original instructions, which claimed they could be used on all members of the family, but when using them on children and elderly people, to only use the small ones.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Young%27s_Ideal_Rectal_Dilators

Latterly they even mounted them on the end of motorised "reciprocating massagers" for a more "healthful and invigorating" experience.

Obviously, in this era eBay is full of modern versions with more honest descriptions of their intended use.