You may think of the sex doll as a modern invention for lonely men, but it actually has a deep, ancient history. This great read in the Atlantic traces its origins back to when folks wrote poems about being obsessed with statues to Hitler to the first time you could actually ship these things in the mail. In the age of the internet and stuff like this, sex dolls almost seem like a throwback to simpler times and, as it turns out, they go back to the way, way simpler times. 8 AD The First Sex Doll Story Told.

In Metamorphoses, Ovid wrote of a myth involving a woman sculpted from ivory by Pygmalion. Her name was Galatea and he became so obsessed with her, bathing her feeding her and of course, sleeping with her, eventually Aphrodite (presumably sick of being weirded out) made her into a real woman. Thus, the porno version of Pinocchio was born. 11th to 12th Century Touching of Naked Statues Encouraged. Naked women made of marble, called "Sheela-na-gigs," were carved into the sides of English and Irish churches to ward off evil spirits. The carvings had exaggerated vulvas and a legend at the time said caressing these sexy busts gave you the power to heal others. Perhaps, sexual healing? 15th Century The First Sex Dolls at Sea. Called "Dame De Voyage" in French, "Dama De Vinje" in Spanish or, the most hilarious of the three, "Seemannsbraut," in German, these female dolls made out of sewn cloth were used by sailors aboard their ships to occupy their time (and bodies) on long trips at sea. 1941 Nazi's Invent the Modern Sex Doll. That's right! The world's first sex-dolls as we know them were created in Nazi Germany at the request of the SS leader, Heinrich Himmler. Called the "Borghild Field-Hygiene Project," Himmler came up with the concept to stop the "unnecessary losses" of Nazi soldiers due to STD's. The Project was considered "Geheime Reichssache," translated: "More secret than top secret." Did Hitler invent Sexdolls for real? It was Hitler's idea and this project titled 'the Borghild Project' from 1940 was kept highly confidential. Apparently, when the German soldiers were stationed in France, their alliance with prostitutes there had led to an outbreak of syphilis.

This project was headed by his officer S.S. commander Heinrich Himmler who had written to Hitler warning him of the outbreak. "The greatest danger in Paris is the widespread and uncontrolled presence of whores, picking up clients in bars, dance halls, and other places. It is our duty to prevent soldiers from risking their health just for the sake of a quick adventure," he wrote. Now Hitler didn't want his soldiers to be contracting STDs or fathering children of a mixed-race-- after all racial discrimination was the basis of everything that he was fighting for. But he realized that these men won't be able to keep it in their pants for long so out of that desperate need, he thought why not make women of plastic? They would not have any rights, respect, or a uterus. Basically, the mini sex dolls were like women except for no uterus. There would be no STDs either.

A Danish doctor Olen Hannussen was ordered in 1941 to develop the inflatable doll, as reported by Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera. And thus this concept of Sex dolls got to work The story of this was first published in a Norwegian newspaper and it pointed out that Hitler was very closely involved in picking out the details of the doll. The paper quoted Hitler to have given her specifications: "She should be a natural size with a pretty woman's appearance with white skin, blonde hair, blue eyes, 1.76 meters (5 feet, nine inches) high, with large lips and breasts." Erm, sure are there any more beauty stereotypes you could fit in here? What can you expect from a fascist leader? Hannussen wrote in his logbook, "The anime sex doll has only one purpose and she should never become a substitute for the honorable mother at home ... When the soldier makes love to Borghild, it has nothing to do with love.

Therefore the face of our anthropomorphic sex-machine should be exactly how Weininger described the common wanton's face." He wrote that these dolls should have a "boyish hairdo" because apparently, it was the "field-whore" and how do these connect? Short-haired women mean low morals too according to these men. He further noted that these dolls were a "part of the fighting forces" and not an "honorable" woman. This is really so disgusting. These dolls called "gynoids" and "comforters" were meant for soldiers to inflate up whenever they felt arousal. However, eventually, soldiers refused to carry them around out of embarrassment and the Germans feared if they were caught by the enemies, they would be made fun of.