It should come as no surprise that an archival search of the U.S. Patent Office yields an embarrassment of riches regarding various contraptions for guarding against “self-abuse” (masturbation) and “nocturnal seminal emissions” (wet dreams) in human males.

[B]etween the years 1856 and 1918, a total of 36 [American] applications for such strange devices received patents.

The problem with a nation that has historically been both fascinated by invention and tortured by prudery.

Coiled springs, compressed rings, pubic hair tethers, refrigerated envelopes, electrical shocks, clamps and metal pockets.

“It is a deplorable but well-known fact that one of the most common causes of insanity, imbecility, and feeble-mindedness, especially in youth, is due to masturbation or self-abuse.”

– Ellen Perkins, 1908

Via Scientific American for the grisly details for these “innovations”.