In 1958, John Houghtaling invented Magic Fingers, a device mounted onto a hotel bed that would shake the mattress under you for 15 minutes, promising escape from the work-a-day non-vibrating bed world. The device was sold to over a million hotels by the 1970s, an era in which room amenities included things like heart-shaped beds. Magic Fingers were in almost every motel up to about the Holiday Inn level, what today would be 2 * or lower. The reasons the brand fell into disuse include inflation and quarters.
Magic Fingers were installed on millions of beds in hotels and motels across the country, featuring a mechanical vibrator attached to the box spring and a coin meter attached to it. The coin-operated Magic Fingers became a staple of roadside motels in the 1960s. Houghtaling invented the contraption in his New Jersey garage in 1958.
The Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed was a common feature in mid-priced hotels and motels. Houghtaling convinced motel operators that Magic Fingers was a health aid and comforter, and by the 1970s, it was estimated more than 250,000. The device was designed to provide a relaxing massage that gave travelers 15 minutes of “tingling relaxation and ease” for a quarter in hotel rooms.
📹 Route 66 Best Motel Features | We Had A Massage Fingers Bed
In this video we’ll share our Route 66 best motel features. We had a massage fingers bed and it was as fun as we thought it would …
What is the point of magic fingers?
In 1958, John Houghtaling invented Magic Fingers, a device that would shake a hotel bed for 15 minutes, offering an escape from the work-a-day non-vibrating bed world. The experience involves dropping 25 cents into a coin box at the bed’s head, which triggers a buzz within the mattress, causing the fine lines printed on the bedspread to soften. The user is then able to relax and enjoy the body massage by imagining they are sleeping on a purring cat.
The company is still around, but there is little information on their website, only offering the home game version of Magic Fingers. It seems that Magic Fingers could work better at home, offering longer and more regular massage sessions to work away stress and help sleep. To start the massage, keep a tin cup near the bed and drop in a quarter, triggering the “clink” sound.
What’s the point of a vibrating bed?
Vibrating beds are mattresses designed with a motorized mechanism that generates mechanical vibrations, providing rhythmic vibrations throughout the bed surface. These beds are primarily used for relaxation, stress relief, and therapeutic benefits. The vibrations produced by the bed can help relax muscles, promote circulation, and potentially alleviate certain types of pain. However, scientific evidence for their efficacy in treating sleep-related issues like insomnia is still limited.
Vibrating beds come in various designs, including standalone bed frames or mattress toppers, with some models offering adjustable vibration settings, timers, or built-in massagers. Benefits of vibration therapy for insomnia include improved circulation, muscle relaxation and pain relief, stress reduction, enhanced bone density, and chemical messengers. Improved circulation can help reduce stress and anxiety levels, while muscle relaxation can help individuals manage muscle tension or discomfort that interferes with their ability to sleep. Stress reduction can help manage stress and anxiety, while enhanced bone density can promote overall health and improve sleep quality.
Chemical messengers, such as serotonin and cortisol, can be influenced by vibrations, potentially regulating sleep patterns and improving insomnia symptoms. Overall, vibration therapy offers numerous benefits for individuals seeking relaxation and improved sleep.
What are magic fingers?
Magic fingers refer to various terms, including John Houghtaling’s invention of the Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed, Roald Dahl’s 1962 fantasy story, and various musical songs. Some popular examples include “Magic Fingers” from the 1971 soundtrack album for 200 Motels, “Magic Fingers” by Eddie Fisher, “Magic Fingers” in Betty Blue Eyes, “Magic Fingers” in Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, “Magic Fingers (25¢)” in Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, a record label produced by Shizzi, a backing group associated with Frank Bango, and a defunct pop band consisting of Matt Hollywood, Eric Hedford, and Spike Keating. The Magic Fingers can also be found in various albums, including the 2005 Balawan album, 1989 Chuck Loeb and Andy LaVerne album, and the 1989 album Faultline by Birdsongs of the Mesozoic.
Is a vibrating bed healthy?
Whole-body vibration can reduce back pain, improve strength and balance in older adults, and reduce bone loss when performed correctly and under medical supervision. However, to lose weight and improve fitness, a healthy diet and daily physical activity are essential. Aerobic and strength training activities should be included in the routine. Before using whole-body vibration, consult a doctor, especially if pregnant or has health issues.
What is the main idea of the magic finger?
The children’s story “The Magic Finger” employs a narrative technique that conveys a moral lesson about empathy. The story’s protagonist learns the importance of understanding others’ feelings and considering how one’s actions affect others. Despite its narrative style, the story effectively conveys a complex moral lesson.
Who owns Magic Fingers?
Magic Fingers Studio, founded in 2009 by Stasha M Harris, is a renowned professional braider and natural hairstylist with over 20 years of experience. Located in Brooklyn, New York, Stasha has won numerous hairstyling awards, including valedictorian in high school, Next Up, from the Natural Hair Industry Convention. With her NYS cosmetology license in 2006, she has built a braiding empire that trains and inspires her peers. Stasha has worked with activists Tamika Mallory, Rappers Wale, and Young M. A., and offers knotless box braids, stitch braids, loc maintenance, and braiding classes for all braid levels.
Stasha is known for her intricate stitch braids and has been hired worldwide as an educator and brand ambassador. She is also the creative director behind Cosmopolitan Magazine’s “The Braid Up” feature, which introduces natural hairstyles, products, and tools to mainstream viewers. In 2019, she established a partnership with AmproGel Inc, launching a product line under their Shine’n Jam family, MagicFingers Shine’n Jam. The line has expanded to include a 4 oz Edge Gel product, an 11. 5 oz Oil Sheen, a 12 oz Setting mousse, and a salon size 16 oz Braiding Gel.
Stasha has also invented the Magic Helper hair holder and Magic Fingers 52″ Pre-Stretched Braiding Hair. She has recently started an apprenticeship program to help new stylists gain knowledge and real-world salon experience in the beauty industry.
Do magic fingers beds still exist?
In the late 1970s, over a million Magic Fingers units were installed in American and European hotels and houses. However, their popularity declined in the 1980s as other in-room entertainment options became available and theft of money from coin boxes became more common. After Houghtaling retired in the 1980s, the new owner manufactured units for home use at the time of his death in 2009. The vibrating bed was frequently featured in 1960s-1980s movies and TV shows, with “Magic Fingers” being a song by Frank Zappa on the soundtrack to 200 Motels, Steve Goodman’s “This Hotel Room”, Buck Owens’ “World Famous Paradise Inn”, Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five, Lolita, the 1998 Clay Pigeons, and CSI Vegas’ “Assume Nothing”.
In the 1983 National Lampoon film Vacation, Clark and Ellen Griswold can be seen relaxing on a Magic Fingers bed that goes rogue, vibrating excessively and forcing them onto the floor. In the X-Files episode Bad Blood, Dana Scully uses one in a Texas motel before being interrupted by Mulder. The Magic Fingers was also referenced twice in The Simpsons, once as a couch gag and once in the episode “The Cartridge Family”.
Houghtaling died aged 92 on June 17, 2009, at his Fort Pierce, Florida, home due to complications from a fall that resulted in a stroke. He was survived by five children, most of whom had Magic Fingers units in their homes, and five grandchildren.
What is the main purpose of fingers?
Finger joints are crucial for grasping and manipulating objects and performing intricate tasks. They consist of 14 phalanges, which are the bones that make up the fingers. Each finger has three phalanges (proximal, middle, and distal), and the thumb has two phalanges. The finger digits are commonly referred to as the thumb, index finger, long finger, ring finger, and small finger, although other names are used to describe them. The thumb is not considered a finger but still has finger joints. Understanding the structure, associated conditions, and treatment for these conditions can help improve your overall hand function.
Do they still have vibrating beds in hotels?
Magic Fingers, a retro feature in motel rooms, was popular in the mid-20th century when the interstate highway system spread out. These motel rooms featured vibrating beds that vibrated under the mattress for 15 minutes. Today, few lodgings feature buzzing beds. The idea of making a bed move was made possible by electricity, with manufacturers combining a motor and mattress into one unit. However, these beds were prone to breakdowns and were expensive.
What was the purpose of vibrating beds in hotels?
Vibrating beds, also known as Magic Fingers, were popular in the 1960s and 1970s in hotels and motels for their 15 minutes of gentle vibrations for just 25 cents. These beds were designed to provide relaxation and stress relief, improving circulation and offering therapeutic benefits. Hotel beds often feel different due to their use of high-quality mattresses, such as hybrid spring latex foam or memory foam, which provide excellent pressure relief and support.
The combination of materials ensures that the mattress conforms to the body, providing a restful and supportive sleep experience. The rhythmic motion of vibrating beds was a unique form of comfort that standard beds couldn’t match.
What is the purpose of the fingers?
Fingers are the four digits on each hand, used for holding objects, scratching, snapping, and finger painting. They help us sense the world and manipulate objects. Fingers can play the piano, speak sign language, and form a peace sign. The verb “finger” means to touch something with your fingers. Finger stems from a root word meaning “five”. The second finger, between the index and ring fingers, is the most common.
📹 Magic Fingers
For those of us who survived the 1970s, even though our phone was tethered to the wall, we did enjoy some amenities that …
I grew up in the 1950s & 1960s. My grandfather was a salesman for a company that made molded plywood for furniture. During the summers he would take my grandmother and me on the road with him. We stayed in every Howard Johnson hotel from Virginia to Alabama. I loved it, too! At the end of each day, my grandfather would reward my good behavior with a “ride” on the Magic Fingers bed. He’d drop in the quarters, say ready-set-go!, then press the starter button… and I was allowed to act crazy for the next five minutes. My grandparents have been gone for fifty years, but many happy memories survive, of which Magic Fingers is one.
When I was an older teen/young adult, my dad and I had to go to a distant city for something I’ve since forgotten. We stop at a road-side motel for the night. Somewhere around 1am, dad got up to use the bathroom, and as he passed my bed, he dropped a quarter in the Magic Fingers box — I woke with a start, and mock harsh words were spoken through interspersed laughter. It’s been 40 years since that, and it’s still one of my favorite memories of the old trickster.
After a long and exhausting day of driving in the early 1970s my wife and I decided to finally stop at a somewhat run-down motel in a small rural town in Arizona. To our surprise the bed was equipped with Magic Fingers. Having never experienced it, we decided to give it a try. We inserted our quarter and enjoyed the first 15 minutes of relaxing vibration. However, after 30 minutes of unending jiggling we decided that we had had enough. But it wouldn’t stop! I finally had to find the outlet behind the bed and unplug it from the wall. However, we did sleep well that night – either from exhaustion or from being jiggled to death!
Great History, HG! I remember the last time I tried a Magic Fingers out on a trip, in the seventies, and the unit malfunctioned. After the fifteen minutes, it wouldn’t shut off. Shortly enough, I fell asleep, until morning, and it was still vibrating. When I tried to get up, my muscles in my entire body were like jelly! Took about two hours to feel normal, again. Good deal for a quarter! 😂
A college friend and I were traveling in a rental truck cross-country. It wasn’t particularly comfortable to travel in. Somewhere in Indiana we stopped at a motel which had Magic Fingers, and we kept pumping quarters in because it felt so good on our sore muscles. Until, that is, we got a phone call from the front desk. Seems they had received a phone call from the room below us who could hear the vibration and thought our bed must be broken. We promised to let this be our last quarter. 😊
My brother and I were on a cross country trip with my Mom, and we stopped at a motel that had magic fingers. We got a quarter from Mom and he and I enjoyed 15 minutes of bliss. 50 years later, when I purchased an exercise machine called “Life Pro Fitness” for exercise, and realized it aggravated my achilles heel, I was about to retire it to my extra bedroom…….when it occurred to me that the vibration of it might create that same “magic fingers” sensation. I remembered how wonderful that feeling was and immediately placed it on my bed next to where I sleep. EVERY night since then I have turned it on for 30 or 45 minutes before falling to sleep, and it really aids in relaxing sore back muscles and helping to fall off to sleep. I not sure I could fall asleep now without it!
YOU PICK GREAT TOPICS! My Magic Fingers story: I was 7 and our World’s Fair motel room had an unlocked box. So I put in the same one quarter over a dozen times … and my father couldn’t find a way to turn it OFF. I loved it, they hated it, I got the vibrating bed to myself for 8 hours. A decade later, I got a waterbed with the same feature and still loved it. Magic Fingers did live on in the waterbed industry into the 90s. Glad to hear you can still get one today.
My mom had a “weight-loss machine” in the early 1960’s that had you stand up in front of the pedastal mounted vibrating motor, hook a wide cloth belt around your midriff, hook the front loop of the belt to the motor, lean back so that your lower back was supported by the belt, and when turned on it would shake and vibrate your midroll belly fat. My parents were intelligent, educated people and I don’t know what possessed them to buy such a thing, unless it was given to them for free or salvaged from somewhere, and for that matter my mom was a littke thick in the middle after 3 kids but not particularly overweight. I think we had it less than a year before she got rid of it and it probably didn’t get much use. I vaguely remember trying it for a minute or 2 just to see what it was like, and it just felt strange.
Our Sleep Number bed includes a Magic Fingers type vibration machine. We’ve never used it after checking it out when the bed was first set up. Perhaps it is time to really try it out. Both my wife and I have sleep issues and is has never occurred to us to try the vibration setting. Thanks History Guy!
Very good report. I have a rare brain disease that has with it Parkinsonian symptoms. For what it’s worth — hopefully to help another of your fans — I find a simple rocking chair theraputic. I also use compression sleaves on my legs. Sometimes the old treatments are as good or better than taking a pill (which I do ) to cover symptoms.
You nailed my age bracket! I’m 69 now, so I was a pre-teen during the 60’s. I encountered Magic Fingers in the usual chain motels while on vacation with my parents. I had no trouble getting to sleep (then or now), but I wanted to try out the Magic Fingers anyway. I found it most pleasant and relaxing. Since I never seemed to have pocket money, I had to bum the first quarter from my Dad. He was usually gods for the first one, but never for the second one! 🤣 BTW, great memories of the orange shag carpet in the pictures! Keep up the great work!
I helped my French girlfriend start a massage business. I knew business. She learned the swedish massage techniques using me as a guinea pig. She often relieved back and foot pain and put me to sleep. In fair return I gave her a vibrating massage using the muscles I’d developed paying music and strong arms and body. She thought it was strange, but she too often felt energized after waking up still laying on a massage bed. The world has many cultures and methods of health for mind and body. Even animals do the same.
Jimmy Buffett once sang that, “Magic Fingers’ll make ya’ feel all right.” As a kid that made me want to ride the magic fingers. I distinctly remember my kid not understanding my fascination and desire to ride one but one day, we hit a motel that had Magic Fingers. It was a glorious day for my pre-teen life.
Growing up we had a whole section in the local mall that had magic fingers chairs. It was a square right in between Macy’s, JC Penneys, Service Merchandise, and Sears. You would always see a bunch of guys relaxing there while their wives were shopping lol. The old magic touch chairs are gone now, replaced with newer massage chairs. But you rarely see them being used any more since the only store left is JC Penneys and a bunch of teen themed stores.
This was fascinating to me. I grew up in the 1960s and ’70s, and I even grew up in a resort town that had more hotel and motel beds than year-round resident beds, but I have no recollection of Magic Fingers. I don’t know if that means we didn’t spend enough nights in hotels or we just didn’t spend them in the right ones. I still don’t stay in hotels often, but when I do, I prefer well-preserved vintage motels over chains, so I will keep a look out for a working Magic Fingers. (I wonder if road trippers on old Route 66 might be more likely to encounter one.)
Some of those quarters were my parents’ and at least one of them was mine. When I found one in a ratty motel in a small town in the ’90s, I tried it out. The bed hadn’t been replaced in 30+ years and the thing nearly threw me off of the bed while making a noise like a jet plane taking off. It was not relaxing for me or the people in neighboring rooms. It was fortunate there was no structural damage to the building.
My parents, with me in tow, spent most summer vacations visiting and staying with relatives in Indiana. Although I was born in St. Petersburg, Florida — where we lived — both Mom & Dad {as well as most everyone from both of their families} were Hoosiers. I remember staying in motels and many times dropping a coin in the Magic Fingers machine and getting a few minutes of vibes. The term “reciprocating bed” causes my mind to wander…somewhere. I think it best to say no more…😉
I happily admit to having two of the perhaps descendants of magic fingers, that being the chair pads that can be operated at home plugged into the wall or in the vehicle plugged into the power socket. They have both a number of strategically placed vibration units which can be operated at several different speeds and a heating element, for long distance trips they are essential. No quarters are necessary, unless you stop at a parking meter for a quick session.
Of all Lance et al’s research, nostalgic topics are the best! I can still see my mother smiling while my two brothers gripped the handles of the 1972 Chrysler Town & Country wagon driving on the dirt roads (as the youngest, I always bounced in the middle). Her mother always laughed wildly when us three boys slid around the back seat of her ’65 Nova on country roads.
I would have never expected this in a million years!! This was great. My parents actually owned a motel aunt my little sister and I lived in the two of the rooms. We had keys to the magic fingers. Second time you hit on my personal history. The other time was when you mentioned killer Burke who was my mother’s uncle. You kick ass.
I “laughed out loud”…. On vacations anytime we found a motel that had this, we forced our parents to put in quarter after quarter after quarter. And all four children squealed with DELIGHT 😂😂😂😂 With regard to sleep, I remember Mom saying that she could put us, as infants, on a little pallet on top of the clothes dryer. The humming / vibration put all of us to sleep. I work in a life safety industry. That is the fire alarm and fire sprinkler business. ADA hotel rooms sometimes install what are referred to as “bed shakers” for the people who are hard of hearing or deaf. These devices activate when the fire alarm system is activated, because people with hearing loss, cannot hear the speakers / horns to alert someone about a fire in a building.
Of course Magic Fingers worked. Everybody with a fussy baby knows that a car ride can often put them to sleep – same idea. When our 33-year old son was a baby, I discovered a shortcut that didn’t involve firing up the car. I put him in his car seat, secured it to the top of our clothes dryer, and ran the dryer on the air fluff setting with a few towels in it. In 10 minutes he was out like a light. If I did that today, I could probably be brought up on charges…
Sometime back in the 70’s when I was a kid, we took our annual cross-country trip and stayed in a motel with Magic Fingers. Being curious of how the worked, I looked under the bed. Seeing the electric plug, I asked my Mom to borrow her extension cord for her hair dryer…. free Magic Fingers for as long as we could stand it! Haven’t seen one since, lol
As a young child, and an “Army Brat”, we moved all over the country, and often. I remember the “Magic Fingers” machines when we would stay at “Motels”- not Hotels. My parents would never let us “waste money” on that gimmick. We did it anyway when they were gone doing something -like repacking the station wagon, the one with the phony wood siding. Oh !! To be a kid again!
Magic Fingers was before my time (when my family stayed in models, the novelty at the time was electric blankets), though I recall one being part of the plot in the LucasArts adventure game Day of the Tentacle where you had to use it to get a heavily sleeping man to fall off a bed in order to get a sweater. I had assumed that they were intended for “adult” entertainment
Our parents were too economically challenged to give us 25 cents, even though they were paying for a (driving) vacation. As the oldest child, I decided to try turning on Magic Fingers with the end of a plastic knife, and it worked! My siblings were freaked out, though, and thought we’d get in trouble, so they shook the box until the bit of plastic fell out and turned off the machine. That was a secret we kept until today!
Another pop-culture “Magic Fingers” film scene is in “National Lampoon’s Vacation” where Clark & Ellen Griswold are trying out the device in their motel room, unfortunately the vibrations prove too intense and shake the bed beyond just a gentle vibration which forces the couple to retreat to the floor when Clark is unable to turn the device off. However, when their kids, Rusty and Audrey, intrude in on their parents, Rusty is able to disable the device by simply unplugging it.
Hot Springs Arkansas museum has a lot of Zander machines (and explanations) – thoery really ahead of its time. And then it all just faded away not to be redicovered until 50+ years later. When I was a kid we didn’t have much money for travel, but yes, if we did it was a roadside stop and I begged for the quarter – but often did not get it (after all an ice cream sandwich at school was a dime!). By the time I grew up and was traveling with school groups or later friends, these hotel/motels were just this side of seedy and I always have associated magic fingers with that downscale experience – santized straps on the toilet seat, plastic cups in cello wrap, etc. Possibly you didn’t want to reach down and touch that box, lol.
My dad in the late 50’s decided to get into this business, while probably ignoring all patents. He bought some mattresses, and had me, age 10 to 13, install the vibrating mechanism, which was a crude box in the inner spring with an electric motor with an eccentric weight. Motor just vibrated like crazy, could not have lasted long. He would go to various mom and pop motels and sell them.
I remember those when I was much younger. One of my first jobs was renovating a hotel in San Francisco, we took out a hundred beds at least, took the magic fingers of them, then tossed the mattresses, and put the magic finger units into storage. From what U understand, the storage area was destroyed in that super bowl earthquake a few years ago, along with my uncle’s bar and grill. Pretty much where the ‘leaning tower of SF’ is now.
I had a lady friend back in the ’70’s who was…shall we say ‘appreciative’ of the Magic Fingers. There was a No Tell Motel at the freeway interchange equipped thusly. So…once a month or so we would sojourn there for an evening of bawdy athletics. Who knew a dollar’s worth of quarters could bring such bliss? 😮😂😂😂
In 85 or 86 my parents were looking to move to Florida. We went down, unsuccessfully, looking for trucking jobs for my dad. On the drive back up to Pennsylvania my mom just couldn’t stay awake any longer and we stopped at a dive motel, probably in the Carolinas, and the bed had one. As a 2 year old, I saw it as a ride like the horse outside Kmart. My mom saw it as an unnecessary expense during a recession, so I only got one ride.
WOW! Even at a very young and naive age, I always thought Magic Fingers was kitschy and gimmicky. I had no idea they were looked upon favorably. We rarely travelled far enough to need a motel room, and when we did, we rarely had an extra 2 bits for such frivolous luxuries. So I guess I can forgive myself for having it seemingly all wrong.
I just remembered when I first saw a Chiropractor in 2010,….the doctor had all sorts of vibrating tables. One was a wide table, covered in vinyl. Beneath the surface was chamber that contained a gel, that could be heated. Then mechanisms moved about, that kind felt like fingers, that would massage various places on my back. I was suspicious that the guy wasn’t a legitimate Chiropractor, as it was a private clinic, not associated with a medical facility, or a hospital. There was vibrations, and tactile mechanized massaging, and heat. ( I was half expecting to read that he was sent to prison, for being a charlatan). A year later I saw Chiropractor in a hospital clinic, and there was hands-on, focused massage, and manipulation of my arm joints, neck, & shoulders.
It’s true. This kind of thing works. No matter how “amped” up I am, I get sleepy as heck when I am a passenger in a car, train or bus. Always have. (Not while driving though, I guess the activity involved keeps the sleepiness from “hitting” me.) Now that I learned that “Magic Fingers” are still available to consumers, $80 might be worthwhile!
There was an episode of Stargate SG-1, don’t remember which on, which had Teal’C and Danel Jackson at one point staying in a motel. At one point Teal’C hits Daniel Jackson up for quarters to feed the Magic Fingers. Having been under their spell a time or two, I would have gladly given him a roll if he’d move over. While there are still some operational, none within a few hundred miles of me. And can’t get one for my bed.
i’m tempted to buy the unit… It seems cheaper than a Hydro therapy bed, which I have tried for my fibromyalgia. During Covid I started taking an Amtrak sleeper instead of the plane because I’m immune compromised, and I discovered what you said: I sleep like a baby! I’m going to Chicago this very weekend from Orange County California, and I know I’m going to have the best sleep in months 🙂
In the 1950s and 1960s, Barbers offered scalp massages, to their clients, usually at no extra charge. The Barber would strap on an electric vibrating device, held on to his wrist and the back of his hand. He would also use his fingers to distribute the vibrations to your brow, head, and neck. (I imagined that besides relaxing one’s head, that somehow it also stimulated hair growth), which I am sure did absolutely nothing, but it felt good.
I was born in 1979, so have never had the pleasure of trying Magic Fingers. But the idea makes total sense to me. In fact, it seems rather obvious. Because as any parent will attest that most cranky babies (and many adults too, myself included, lol) can be quickly lulled to sleep with a simple car ride. Many baby swings and seats come with a vibrating feature these days, for just that reason. I feel like something akin to these, which feature a gentle, more subtle internal rumbling vibration, rather than a stronger trembling of the whole unit, would be very conducive to sleep for adults, as well. However, like I said, I never tried Magic Fingers, so IDK exactly what it’s like, or how much I might love or hate it, lol.
This episode was brilliant. How you got onto this subject I have no idea but kudos for an interesting subject matter. I rarely got to use the magic fingers as the parents did not want to spend the money. Now I am interested in one for my bed. I do have the recliner with the massage feature and mom likes the function on her recliner. It did take a while to convince her to try it but her back hurting one day convinced her to try it and the rest is history ;).
I definitely remember Magic Fingers in cheapo motels and somehow always associated it with shoddy places almost always located close to adult theaters.. Coincidence? Probably,but that’s my memory of them.. I used to hitch hike a lot with few dollars to spend so my choices of fine sleeping establishments was a bit limited to usually under bridges, but the occasional motel room if fortune smiled my way..
Anybody who doesn’t believe that motion like that helps sleep.. I’ve been an over the road truck driver for 10 years, there’s NOTHING better than a nights sleep in the truck with the diesel engine running. When I go home and sleep In my own bed I don’t sleep half as good. I look forward to retirement, but I hope I can afford to buy a truck, just to get a good night’s sleep now and again. 🤣 My niece met me in Denver once to go to a concert and came back to the truck to get a few hours sleep before heading back to Missouri from Denver and slept in my upper bunk, a few months later we were talking and she commented how she was tired but not sleeping well, and was thinking about going down to the local truck stop and asking if anyone had an open bunk they’d let her borrow for the night, joking of course, but she did say that night in Denver was the best sleep she’d ever had.
I was kinda astonished when you used the term “two bits.” I was thinking I had not heard that term in a long, long, time. When I was in grade school in the ‘50s and probably into the ‘60s a lot of the older people often used the term two bits, four bits, or six bits. How about episode about how the term came to be and why it seems to have fallen out of the lexicon; and, since Spanish milled dollars are also called “pieces of eight,” it has to be a good story because it also involves Pirates.
Mechanical Vibration is DEFINITELY of benefit for health reasons. If you went to the hospital, and they let you in the ICU, let’s say you were visiting a loved one in ICU, well if you looked at the hospital bed they were in, and It was a modern one, with a touch screen, chances are, There is going to be a vibration function. WHY? Well, for patients who are on ventilators, with a breathing tube in their mouth, that is inserted into their trachea, they cannot remove secretions on their own. They often rely on that ventilator for every breath, particularly in conditions such as Guillain Barre Syndrome, or if they have Atelectasis. This is where there is collapse in the air sacks in the lungs, and there is secretion build up. These beds that do vibration, help to loosen up the secretions so that they can be coughed up, or suctioned, using a suction system that’s connected to the hospital wall. The beds can be set to vibrate at a certain intensity, for a certain amount of time. These type of beds have been around for quite some time, and are still commonly used. Also important to mention, that there are these vibrating vests, that are connected to blowers using large hoses, and air is shot through the vest hundreds of times per minute to help patients who have conditions like Cystic Fibrosis to remove secretions from their lungs. So when I think of these magic fingers beds, I think about the hospital beds that vibrate! It’s sad that the Magic Fingers beds are hardly used anymore. They were great beds.
In Ohio, at the Ohio State Fair, and at some of the shopping malls, in the 1970s thru the 1990s, there were coin operated vibrating chairs. Weary from walking the Fair grounds, or the lengthy Malls, a vibrating chair, which focused the soothing vibrations to one’s legs, calves and feet, provided a “little bit of temporary Heaven”.
Only reason i know what this is, is cuz the movie lolita lol ( not the original, but 90’s one) when they book a hotel, it mades its debut lol, and just like the Line Jeremy Irons says, it definitely brings up a different imagery than a bed to me🧐, and personally i don’t think the name is very good, and i wonder if that’s why they become unpopular, some probably thought it was something dirty or weird,🧐, i know i do..lol Anyways, looks like they weren’t using them anymore a few years before i was born so i have never even seen one anywhere or been on one. I do however remember waterbeds tho, lol those started getting popular in the MID 80s and 90s. One of my relatives had one. It was kind of fun rolling around on them😂, especially if they had a king sized or whatever, but in the back of my mind i was always worried it was going to leak/pop.
I would wager that magic fingers earned as many quarters from eager children, such as myself and my siblings, as from legitimately road weary adults. We would always beg our parents for quarters and quarrel over who got to use it first. Woe be to our parents if they chose a hotel without magic fingers.
Had a friend with me on a road trip, stayed at cheap motels all the time. Came back to the room wasted drunk. My buddy threw a quarter in the magic fingers and im not gonna lie. Had to get a big trash bag from the front desk for all the vomit. For some reason and i cant remember he wouldnt get off the bed even though it was making nauseous. He just kept blowing chunks into the trash bag over the side of the bed
As a kid in the 70s, my parents were quite conservative and ‘proper’ about anything related to their relationship between-the-sheets. But here and there, were signs and clues that they were a bit more adventurous than they let on. The existence of a magic fingers installed on their bed at home was one of those signs! 😉🤣
Interesting related fact, by the way: Some scientists believe that one reason cats purr (because, contrary to popular belief, purring is not always a sign of happiness) is because they’re sick or injured, and the vibrations of the purring can help them heal. The frequency of a purr is said to be one that promotes bone healing, etc. So maybe there really is something to vibration therapy after all, lol. I mean, we all know those vibrating muscle massagers can feel amazing. Oh, and of course, sexual vibrators started out as doctors’ tools, both for muscle healing, and for treating “nervous conditions”, i.e. mostly women with “hysteria”. Misogynistic thinking at its best, but hey we got a lot of fun gadgets out of it, LOL!!
I think your earnings math around 13:30 might be wrong? If there are actually 4 quarters used per month per room, and there are 250k rooms, that’s $250K per month they make, or $3M per year, not 12 million. I think you’re accidentally translating the four quarters into four dollars somewhere. Otherwise, thank you for another great vid!
If you have enough money you can buy anything. Ford and Rockefeller though really that’s amazing. Good thing nothing ever went wrong after that you are an inspiration every day and then accidentally put the best optics ever to the global rupture. Pop Eye style. My mother for you sir I know you’re looking forward loving it and I will be a few good man. Mother of God!😊
So you’re telling me that someone thought it was a good idea to shake people suffering from Parkinson’s disease so they could sleep better? AND that the Kellogs who were so against masturbation they promoted a more bland breakfast (corn flakes) and circumcision to prevent it also created steam powered vibrators. Wonders never cease.
Who would have guessed that the Magic Fingers had such a long historical rationale? My grandmother had a device from around 1900 that contained a step-up transformer that converted 6 volts to thousands of volts. Although, it would not hurt you (because the amps were not stepped-up), it provided a convincing shock. It had attachments that you could put on your fingers to cure arthritis and a band to wrap around your head to cure who knows what.
Yeah, sure. Vibrations to help with parkinsons?! If that would have helped? I mean, if yes it would have been a fairly simple thing. Even if it would just work for the time you use that vibrations and not any further after finishing the treatment. I know at least one patient who would do a lot to just have a view minutes when his meds don’t work and he has tremors. And the same goes for RLS patients but there I know that vibrations can (only) help during the episodes.
The concept of “cranial vibration” is one of the oddities of medical science. Historically it’s possible to produce the same results by chanting or humming. Although the actual medical benefits aren’t particularly well defined it appears that the consequences inducing vibrations in the scull and brain are NOT meaningless. There are measurable changes produced in the EEG readings of a human brain experiencing the effect. Applying the effect body wide might or might not have potentially beneficial effects but there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of interest in medical research. 🤷
Nikola tesla had built a wonderful machine and even wrote an entire handbook on how to manufacture and use his device which relied on vibration and frequency but it is all hand written in old serbian luckily i speak serbian so i was able understand what was in front of me truly amazing what these people developed built and used way back in the late 1800s early 1900s 😮 incredible!!! By now we should already have the elixiur of youth/life!! 😢
😻 Nice tribute to Jimmy Buffett, I’m sure my fellow parrot heads will agree that prompting people to research This Hotel Room off Havana Daydreaming is a great way to celebrate his life and mourn his passing. Uh this hotel room’s gotta lotta stuff Laundry bag and a shoe shine cloth Thirty two hangers and a touch tone phone Well a light that comes on when I ain’t home I ain’t home I ain’t home You better leave a message ’cause I ain’t home They got an air conditioner for when I’m hot A radiator for when I’m not Two big chairs sittin’ side by side With a holy bible and the TV Guide TV Guide The TV Guide Great God Almighty It’s the TV Guide I gotta second story view from curb to curb I gotta sign that reads “Do Not Disturb” A monogrammed towel and a bucket of ice A chest of drawers and a mirror that lies Mirror that lies A mirror that lies That couldn’t be me In the gorilla disguise They got a room service menu for food and drink A porcelain throne and an aluminum sink Two big pillows to rest my head A Magic Fingers and a king-size bed Put in a quarter Turn out the light Magic Fingers makes ya feel alright Uh feel alright Feel alright Magic Fingers makes you feel alright Uh this ol’ hotel’s all right with me They pay the postage if you lose the key This hotel room’s gotta lot of stuff But I do believe I’ve had enough Called my baby said don’t you pout I’m packin’ my bags and I’m checkin’ out Just as soon as you hang up the telephone Stick a candle in the window I’m comin’ home Comin’ home Uh comin’ home Stick a candle in the window I’m comin’ home Whoa comin’ home Comin’ home Stick a candle in the window I’m comin’ home