Magic Fingers

[@RevMikeBlack]

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.

[@ventilator98]

OH! If only John Houghtaling's Invention was still found in hotels! What a much more pleasant stay so many people would have! I've had many hotel stays in my life, and I never considered a hotel room comfortable! I was always happy when we were checking out of the hotel! The vacations were AWESOME, but the worst part was trying to sleep in a cold and uncomfortable hotel room. Not to mention, it was always hard to prop myself in those horrible beds. Now, I'm on a ventilator, with a trach long term, and when I go to a hotel which isn't very often these days, but those hotel beds are not very accomidating for all of my monitoring equipment, and the ventilator tubing. The last time me and my assistant Joshua were at a hotel, it was time to get ready for bed, and Joshua could see my annoyance very rapidly growing, while I was attempting to get comfortable! He could see I was uncomfortable, and said "Peter? If you need help ask. Don't get frustrated!" If I had had a Magic Fingers device in my room, I would have simply inserted a quarter, and the vibrations would have put me to sleep! It's a shame, we don't have those devices anymore! So many people who have to travel a lot would benefit from them! You telling your memories of Magic Fingers really speaks how many kids, and adults received comfort from Magic Fingers!

[@redtailedhawk90]

John Houghtaling was my grandfather, and I grew up hearing about Magic Fingers. This is an excellent tribute and a very informative video, thank you so much!

[@Mr6384]

That’s really cool. I’m just sorry that he didn’t seem to be remembered for his invention. I’m 60 now and only two years ago learned that my great grandfather owned a general store in a small town in Ohio.

[@Patrick-c8x]

So you're a millionaire then -

[@ventilator98]

WOW!!! How Profound! To be reading a comment from someone related to Sir Houghtaling, is so profound! I've studied the history behind these devices for such a long time! I was not born until 1992, however, I wish I could have seen those devices because I've been in a lot of hotels, none of the beds were comfortable, as I have a lot of lung and breathing issues, and so I had to be propped up quite a bit, and now if I go to a hotel, I have to carry a lot of monitoring devices, and a ventilator, as well many other pieces of equipment. I always had issues falling asleep in hotels, but if I had come to encounter a room with a Magic Fingers device, It would have soothed me to sleep IMMEDIATELY, with the soothing vibrations! I'm thinking about getting me a unit for my hospital bed, from the website mentioned. But I wish more people knew the history behind these devices, and how caring your Grandfather was, to invent something so wonderful, that someone who was traveling for hours and hours on the road, could simply lie back, put in a quarter, and drift off to sleep with. In my opinion, it's an UTTER SHAME, that these devices are no longer around! THANK YOU, for your comment!

[@n1gak]

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.

[@Big_Not_Good]

He sounds like a mushroom... A real fungi. Thanks for sharing! ✌️

[@stickinthemud23]

Same for me. I was 11 and we were travelling across the country to NYC. Stayed in a hotel somewhere in Pa. (the usual suspects are obvious) and our parents gave us (my brother and me) a quarter to put into the bed. Next thing I new it was morning. Glorious!

[@ValkyrieTiara]

What a wonderful memory! 😂

[@BeckVMH]

Haha Your dad seems to have been a great guy. Funny story. Thanks for sharing..

[@rikfroschauer1743]

Nice! Your Dad sounds like a hoot

[@cld372slt]

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!

[@ghenefer]

LOL!

[@farmerjoe1801]

I’d say you got your money’s worth!

[@Davett53]

Oh my,......this sounds exactly like my experience. Although a decade later in the early 1980s, when I was actively exhibiting my art, throughout Ohio and the surrounding midwest. My girlfriend and I would be traveling to Dayton, Canton, Portsmouth, and Cincinnati where I had gotten into both group and one-person exhibits. Pulling a smaller U-Haul rentable trailer, behind my Chevy compact car. We'd be loading and unloading my sculptures at various venues. Some were small galleries, others were public spaces. After every delivery we'd sleep before returning to Columbus, Ohio our home town. Struggling artists could only afford cheap motels, and we saw them all, and the worst ones. No Holiday Inns, or Motel 8s,.....these were privately owned ones, with next no amenities. However, many of them had the "magic fingers" beds. On a lark we tried one such bed, and immediately regretted it. I'm not even sure the bed vibrated, but the electric motor made such a racket. Deep humming and buzzing was heard, too loud to sleep through. Almost a deafening amount of noise,...that we both broke out in uproarious laughter. And then it seemed to go on for an eternity, until I was forced to go beneath the bed,....where it had never been vacuumed, in at least 30 years, to pull the cord. ( I almost lost my lunch) It was so gross beneath that bed. Ha!,....such funny memories.

[@kitefan1]

Hehee. As a child when we stopped at motels I had a one quarter limit when we hit a room with one of these. Mine always stopped after 15 minutes.

[@ventilator98]

This was a common issue with the devices. The timer inside would not kick the unit off when the fifteen minutes was up. I'm glad you shared your story, because you're not the only one who reported a failure with the timer mechanism. Several other people actually had the same issue, when they used Magic Fingers!

[@ConfusedBurger-fo6vq]

Over your shoulder is the NCC 1701. I love that so much.

[@ramblerdave1339]

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! 😂

[@tashuntka]

😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄 Highly underrated comment 👏 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👍🏻

[@sportdriver]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@tobyturcott]

Same thing happened to me.

[@ramblerdave1339]

​Probably too late for a class action lawsuit, LOL. 😂

[@ventilator98]

That was one common malfunction with those units! I would say the issue was that the timer just didn't kick the device off! I wish they were still around, so that I could investigate further into this, because that would be interesting to learn more!

[@javelin1974]

I grew up in a small Missouri town. In the mid 80’s a motel burned and my step-father contracted to tear it the rest of the way down. One day he walk in with two gallon buckets mostly full of quarters from the Magic Fingers

[@RogCBrand]

Wow! I calculated that 2 gallons of quarters would be worth about $2,270 back then or about $4,200 today!!!

[@javelin1974]

Wow!!! Then my memory is completely mistaken!! There’s no way it was $2000+!!!

[@AdamBechtol]

lol :p@@javelin1974

[@goodun2974]

A lot of songs have been written about quarters of one kind or another: No Quarter (Led Zep), Quarter Moon In A Ten Cent Town (EmmyLou Harris), Pearl of the Quarter (Steely Dan), and the old saying, or song?, Here's a Quarter, Call Someone who Cares. My favorite by far is the reggae song Quarter Of A Man, here's a taste: " There's a Quarter of a Man at the market/ with a quarter of a car, though it's easy to park it/ when he gets to the counter, he pays what he can/ but he only pays a quarter, he's a Quarter of a Man.... Now the Quarter of a Man he got hired/the next damn day he got fired/the only thing wrong with this plan/ he only gets a quarter, he's a Quarter of a Man...... Every day he's on the street/too few quarters, too little to eat/he's so little the people all stare/but he only pays quarter fare......" written by Frizz Fuller, recorded by David Lindley and ElRayo-X. There's more to it; I could tell you what it's all about but then I'd have to k--l you!

[@maryd9331]

@RogCBrand quarters worth $2,270 "back then" are still worth $2,270 today. They didn't appreciate. 😊

[@jonathanholland8133]

I grew up couple hundred yards from a rail road. I recall how quickly I would fall asleep when I was in bed and a train rolled through town. 😊

[@casperrenting]

Cas here. I want to thank America for their contributions to science and innovation. Space travel is all fun and games but Magic Fingers, that's something else!

[@theobserver9131]

I must confess contributing at least 4 bits to the magic fingers business. I found it to be nearly as relaxing as driving on a rumble strip. I had to try it twice to make sure.

[@PopCultureFan_]

LOL

[@robertestes196]

And the Beach Boys sang about good vibrations,Hmmm

[@VespasianJudea]

“Sir! It’s for your fingers!!!!”

[@Lisa1111]

Growing up in Seattle, my granny and I would just giggle on them!

[@milosterwheeler2520]

I loved the old vibrating bed gadget.

[@ventilator98]

It was something really really good, that America doesn't have anymore, sadly! And Sir Houghtaling worked his butt off to help people who were on the road all day to relax!

[@jameshallett5395]

As there say, “Let your fingers do the walking…”. Oh, wait. That’s another history which deserves to be remembered..

[@hazelleblanc8969]

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. 😊

[@ventilator98]

That story is HILARIOUS!!! For people to be able to hear the device below, it must have vibrated rather hard!

[@gregcampwriter]

Cats knew about the therapeutic effect of vibration a long time ago.

[@larrygorlitz]

Battle Creek resident here! Live not far from these legendary locations. 😁

[@omegadubois6619]

My younger daughter had a bassinet that gently vibrated as it played lullabies, it was awesome lol

[@jchow5966]

Thank you for the memories!

[@ElmoUnk1953]

14:21 Color TV, heated pools, and magic fingers, THG you hit the high points for kids like us. 😁

[@navret1707]

Don’t forget AIR CONDITIONING

[@ElmoUnk1953]

@@navret1707 No Doubt!

[@goodun2974]

Today's youngsters have no clue that there was an era where color TV and air conditioning were so new that they were used as part of the advertising on motel and hotel signs and billboards!

[@brandonc9496]

Ironing board

[@ml.2770]

My dad wouldn't stay in a place without the frosty blue "Air Conditioning" and rainbow "Color TV" on the sign.

[@regallag888]

That Futurama gag with the "magic tentacles" makes so much more sense now.

[@prestongivens3594]

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!

[@vortexgen1]

I'm sure the funeral of the inventor of the magic fingers was someplace to be at. Could you imagine the casket vibrating.

[@ventilator98]

REST IN PEACE Mr. Houghtaling!

[@patthecat6491]

Magic Fingers where right up there with swimming pools, for me, on our family trips back in the day.

[@ThomasHazard-uo6nr]

I'm in my 60s and remember staying at hotels/motels with our parents which had these Magic Fingers in the rooms. It was fun to try them out for just a quarter.

[@mikenixon2401]

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.

[@LavianoTS386]

I still remember them in the 90s. Occasionally, you'd pay for one that didn't work, it was always a gamble.

[@guyward5137]

Always enjoy history Guy.

[@pbandj37]

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.

[@pbandj37]

I made this comment before watching the video. My thanks to The History Guy for quoting the late, great Mr. Buffett.

[@TorrencePinetta]

I love coin operated devices. I’ve had a Magic Fingers unit on my bed at home since the mid-1980s, along with its coin operated timer. Both a sleep aid and a 25¢ piggy bank!

[@ventilator98]

Do you still have the device? How hard exactly do these devices vibrate?

[@TorrencePinetta]

I still have it. The vibration is pretty strong - enough to be felt throughout a queen size mattress, but not at all jarring.

[@ventilator98]

@@TorrencePinetta I feel strange for asking this question, but well you see, I've studied these devices for years. I was not born until 1992, so I never got the chance to use one of these devices, BUT SERIOUSLY, I've been studying these devices, and their history in depth, and I've honestly had A MASSIVE INTEREST in these. I'm a medically fragile ventilator dependent and tube fed individual, and I've been a lot of ICU beds, and these beds have vibration to help us ventilator users remove secretions from our lungs. The bed vibrates because there's a high grade medical grade air mattress, and air is pulsed into air bladders in the air mattress hundreds of times per minute, and this is done to help ventilator patients like me clear our secretions. I have a hospital bed at home, but it doesn't vibrate. But the technology in the hospital beds in ICU, got me interested in the magic fingers devices. I've never seen one in actual life, and I have a question. Is there a way you could do a video of your device, and let me see in detail how it's connected to the bed, and how it operates? I think KZbin lacks videos like this. And I know it's strange for me to ask such a weird question, but I've got a massive interest in technology due to my life in and out of the hospital, and the hundred of surgeries and procedures I have had. I've always studied technology!

[@bigsarge2085]

As a kid I remember travelling with my family to a few hotels with coin operated units!

[@vlmellody51]

Me, too, although I never got to try one out. My mother thought they were dirty, I think they only were inside her head.🤔

[@bigsarge2085]

@@vlmellody51 😄

[@heatherrocchi6232]

The Road to Wellville (1994) does a great job recreating Kellogg's facility and equipment. Great post as always!

[@j1st633]

It was filmed at Mohonk in the Catskill mountains of NY.

[@tolfan4438]

If it's the healthyist place on earth why do people keep dying

[@jesseostone386]

That was one unique movie! 😆

[@truepeacenik]

The book was a trip, too.

[@jamespembleton2666]

I remember those. They were great. Wish they still had them today.

[@ventilator98]

It's a shame that John Houghtaling's devices are no longer around! It's such a shame!!! With my health issues, and my weak body, hotels have always been hard on me. The temperature was never right in those rooms, and I always got cold, because I don't maintain body temperature. And those beds now days, they're not comfortable! ESPECIALLY, for a patient on a ventilator like me! REST IN PEACE John Houghtaling. I never got to see one of your devices, one your invention sadly, BUT I know it blessed so many many people! YOU DID WONDERFUL!

[@joanbennettnyc]

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.

[@DFSJR1203]

My grandfather had a recliner with heat and vibration. He bought it in the mid 1950's and he used it till he passed in the late 1980's. He had a bad back and always said the recliner made him feel better when used with the heat and vibrations.

[@irishis3]

My dad had the same type of recliner. We all liked it more than magic fingers although he was notoriously cheap and wouldn't give up a quarter that easily😅

[@bwc1976]

Dang I miss these! They need to be brought back.

[@prudencepineapple9448]

Ahhhhh, yes, we too had 'Burnt Orange' kitchen tops with 'Avocado Green' cabinets in an early 1970s. It's been the source of many nightmares which involve the Brady Bunch Family, both of which flummox and perplex me.

[@John-t1t5v]

Yup & shag carpets with the attendant "rug rake".

[@prudencepineapple9448]

@@John-t1t5v And no matter how often you'd vacuum it, it always took hours and still left gunk/food and other 'unmentionable' things in it!

[@goodun2974]

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.

[@tolfan4438]

What jiggling your fat doesn't get rid of it ? My step dad brought one home ,it clamped to a door . Rediculus thing

[@coreydarr8464]

Same here!

[@RogCBrand]

A lot of people that want to lose weight seem to hope for a "magic" cure, rather than the work of dieting and exercise. I bet for even many smart people, the idea of just standing there for a time, and having your fat shaken away was so appealing, they were willing to set aside doubt. It really would be wonderful if something difficult could be solved so easily!

[@nunyab8003]

We had one too!!

[@meedwards5]

I attended a birthday party when I was in 2nd grade where the birthday girl's mother had one of those weight loss jiggle machines. We all took turns trying the contraption out and just collapsing into fits of laughter. It kind of felt like it was going to shake my body to bits, but I was a really tiny kid.

[@ropeburnsrussell]

Yup, I'm proud to say I'm a magic fingers veteran . Hi, Debbie💓

[@rhuephus]

yeah .. but it cost you more than 25 cents

[@skiptoacceptancemdarlin]

we always thought they were some sort of sex toy when i was a kid in the 80s, akin to a mirrored ceiling. probably because they were only installed in the seediest roadside motels.

[@verdatum]

That....that's what my dad told child-me....

[@damonroberts7372]

LOL! On a family road-trip when I was an 80s kid, we stayed at a motel that had one of these vibrating beds (and it figures, because the room decor was a decade or two out of date). I asked my parents if I could try it out, but they said something like "they don't really work and it's a waste of money". But having watched this video and really thinking about it as adult, I think... they were afraid my morals would be corrupted... PMSL

[@DonoVideoProductions]

I was just going to post this exact thing!

[@flapjack9495]

Same here!

[@mjrleaguesweetie]

Same, I’ve never actually encountered one of these beds in the wild but I also thought it was some sort of sex thing

[@RetiredSailor60]

Good Monday morning History Guy and everyone watching

[@cosmiccowboy9358]

I remember these in roadside motels in the mid to late 1980’s me and my sister would wait for our parents to fall asleep then we would stick in a quarter and wait for the old man to start yelling and we would laugh till our sides hurt

[@justme_gb]

Another commentor said dad dropped a quarter in on the kids. Great stuff pranking family!

[@acewrench]

Thanks for this. Magic fingers were always a treat on family roadtrips in the late 60s and early 70s.

[@chadportenga7858]

I remember the vibrating beds in motels as a kid (back before everything changed to multi-story hotels). It was a treat to find one in your motel room and getting a quarter to let it run for 15 minutes or so.

[@stevecannon4780]

I took a bus coast to coast many years ago. I stopped in a city to get a nights sleep. The room had "magic fingers" and I dropped a quarter. I immediately felt like I was back on the bus and had to get out of bed until the vibrations stopped!

[@PlanetEarth3141]

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.

[@EdHelms1]

Hearing THG making a reference to an obscure Jimmy Buffett song from almost 50 years ago made my day.

[@pbandj37]

I have a feeling The History Guy is a Buffett fan. I have tried explaining to my kids what a Magic Fingers is or was. They don't get it or why I like it. The bed is fine but it is really Jimmy's song, and the memories attached to it, are truly why I like it.

[@offrails]

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

[@jerrymiller276]

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!

[@jamesslick4790]

If you already HAVE this function, Try it! You already paid for it, You might be pleasantly surprised!

[@ilRosewood]

I use my mine every night. I can’t fall asleep without it.

[@V.Hansen.]

Did you try it? How’d it go?

[@jerrymiller276]

@@V.Hansen. Not yet. We are packing to move and my wife has been going to bed before I do. I don't want to wake her up by turning it on. But it'll happen. It has been on my mind.

[@YouTubeHandlesAreMoronic]

Yep...family motels with Magic Fingers, a glass carafe/hot plate combo with Sanka packets, and no closet doors. Looking back, economy hotels in the late 60s through the early 80s were just one notch up from sleeping in the car.

[@hollerinwoman]

Don't forget the whiffs of PineSol and funky draperies. Good times, haha!

[@mar4kl]

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.)

[@basaltplainscreationsaustr1194]

I bought 4 units from a motel in South Eastern Australia 2 weeks ago, along with the "Colour TV" signs. I could not stand the thought of them going to land fill.

[@ventilator98]

You did a WONDERFUL thing buying those devices! NO, such a historical piece of equipment going to waste, is TOO SAD TO EVEN THINK ABOUT! Mr. Houghtaling did something that helped so many travelers. I wasn't born until the 90s, so I never got a chance to get my hands on one, or sadly, BUT I've done enough study for years, to know, that these devices were so special to many! Anyone who's traveled for hours and hours in a car, especially with health issues like mine, they know, IT IS HARD! You get to that hotel, and you just want to go to bed. My hotel experiences were never comfortable. The rooms were always too cold, and the beds were uncomfortable! Now I'm on a ventilator through a tube in my neck, and situating a ventilator set up in a hotel bed, IS DOWN RIGHT UNCOMFORTABLE! And trying to sleep in those beds, VERY uncomfortable! If I had been able to experience a Magic Fingers device, it would have helped me so much. The hotel bed would have been much more comfortable! Let's take a moment of silence to remember Sir John Houghtaling, and what he did for so many people! REST IN PEACE SIR! And as for YOU, Thank you for the comment, and THANK you for not letting these devices go to waste. It's people like you who make America a better place, because you think about stuff like that!

[@thisolesignguy2733]

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.

[@justme_gb]

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.

[@rikkiechambers4959]

As a kid in the 70’s my family had a business where we traveled a lot and stayed in motel 6 they always had magic fingers it helped me sleep better than anything else .. now I’m gonna go see if I can buy one !

[@bionict-rex4326]

As a small child in the ‘80s I remember driving to our annual Colorado ski trip. We would split the drive in half and stay in the Limon Inn in Limon, KS which had beds with magic fingers.

[@stevepeyton9073]

"Mother's with their babes asleep are rocking to the gentle beat and the rhythm of the rails is all they feel "City of New Orleans Woodie Guthrie

[@JimmyJames714]

It’s a Steve Goodman song

[@stevepeyton9073]

@@JimmyJames714 I stand corrected sir Thank you

[@hollerinwoman]

@@JimmyJames714 Yep, and sung by ARLO Guthrie

[@theemmjay5130]

That song has my all-time favorite description of trains. "Magic carpets, made of steel. "

[@johnathantucker4191]

I was waiting for you to mention the movie "Trains, Planes, and Automobiles". A true classic. IDEA FOR FUTURE EPISODE: listening to the radio I heard about Al Jarvis, apparently one of the first radio DJs. Maybe about him, or DJs in general? Thanks for all you do.

[@markgbrown6767]

I LOVE this idea!! I would like hearing the History of DJs!

[@torpedo8384]

That is a stunning Constitution Class vessel behind you sir!

[@David-nx2vm]

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…

[@ninjaswordtothehead]

Dude. That is genius. That would have saved me so much gas.

[@RevMikeBlack]

That's flat-out brilliant! Thanks!

[@John-t1t5v]

Yeh, putting them ON it worked so much better than putting them IN it...

[@justme_gb]

"Seaman Henderson, your wife needs a vibrator." I'll see myself out now.

[@clazy8]

Great story! My father was dismissive but still allowed me to spend a quarter on it.

[@jayfrank1913]

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.

[@ventilator98]

You know, I read this comment when I first saw this video in the month of May.I've been trying to understand this. Thise motors are relatively small from what I've seen in my research. Here's what I don't understand. How would a device like that, have enough vibration, to almost result in omeone being thrown off of the bed. I mean, you see something similar in the movie, "National Lampoon's Vacation," BUT, that's a movie. You're likely to see something like that in a movie. BUT, how that would be possible in an actual Magic Fingers device, ESPECIALLY the way it sounded like a jet plane that was taking off, and the way you'd said that you were surprised that there was no structural damage to the building, That has me curious! And I've been doing research. One person wrote a comment on a website saying that they put a quarter in the coin box, and it vibrated so hard, that the bed's headboard started striking the wall very hard. I wasn't born until 1992, so I never got the chance to see one of these device. BELIEVE ME! I wish I could get my hands on one, but your comment has me puzzled. And It's a down right shame, that the devices were not maintained like they should have been. John Houghtaling's worked was essentially thrown down the drain. Here was a man that just wanted to provide a little bit of relaxation for exhausted travelers, and what happens? People don't appreciate them. Times have changed. Times have sadly changed!

[@ernestoross]

I was in the USAF in the middle 1960's and drove a lot between assignments and on furlough. Tried Magic Fingers several times, but after driving for 12-hours I did not want move vibrations. I saved my quarters!

[@scotshabalam2432]

One time I went to this costume party for rich people who could afford leather costumes. They sat me on this half-barrel thing and it vibrated a lot so I went home and went to the restroom, it worked really good.

[@haywoodyoudome]

I don't think many people with get the reference...

[@neohabilis7412]

thank you for your work. i am in a very difficult period in my life, and your cheerful presentations are a precious gem to me.

[@msowdal]

The previous tune was from "200 Motels" a movie circa 1970 by Frank Zappa, featuring Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of the "Turtles" fame as Flo and Eddie in the movie.

[@J.A.Smith2397]

Laying on one of these been on my bucket list since a kid

[@morgangallowglass8668]

Some fine memories of my childhood, thank you!

[@njpaddler]

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.

[@ventilator98]

Those pads are NICE. I don't think that they vibrated NEARLY as hard as the magic fingers beds vibrated. I was told that those devices vibrated quite hard!

[@barrydysert2974]

Hats off to the History Guy for citing the BioGraphics channel right here on KZbin !:-)

[@NoahSpurrier]

I remember my father letting me use one of these as a kid when we were on road trips! The History Guy never fails to dig up forgotten nostalgia.

[@nancyk3615]

Back when Motel 6 was about $12.00, I recall that they were in all the rooms. The only thing was after 5 minutes, it stopped and you had to get up and put another quarter in ....😂

[@rhuephus]

ha ha .. I remember when "Motel 6" actually charged $6 ...

[@notahotshot]

​@@rhuephusI remember when Motel 6 was Motel 5.

[@mattgayda2840]

My very well known company memory foam mattress base has 3 different vibration zones, 4 different patterns, and 9 levels of intensity for each zone. It cost about 12,000 quarters...

[@DeconvertedMan]

Enterprise on the shelf!

[@jbrhel]

Thanks again THG. Love the Enterprise model on the shelf.

[@tomh6183]

Yes!I had that model but it’s just a great memory now.

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

(1) 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._ (2) The term _"reciprocating bed"_ causes my mind to wander...somewhere. I think it best to say no more...😉

[@RPrice_OG]

The last time I saw one was sometime in the late 90s or early 2000s. I was never a fan of them but my daughter was fascinated that such a thing existed.

[@planetzebulon21]

“200 Motels”, the Zappa made movie, had a song about that appliance .

[@MaggieTrudeau]

there are still magic fingers beds at the flamingo hotel in coeur d'alene idaho

[@ThePrader]

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!

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Hey History Guy 🤓and Classmates have a Happy Halloween 🎃 tomorrow if you're celebrating 🍾

[@John-t1t5v]

Yeh, Halloween. My brother, living in Southern California, scared most of his neighbors nearly to death last year by dressing up his children as gluten...

[@Tser]

When I saw this episode I said to my partner, "But I just put a quarter in the Magic Fingers!" before clicking to watch it, quoting that X-Files episode, hahaha.

[@sus8e462]

Oh, I never got to try them--the few times we stayed at hotels vs the pop-up camper trailer pulled by our '65 Ford station wagon, my mom had equated them with other paid for services between adults... guessing just didn't want to dole out the quarters! 😅. And will look at buying one now!

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

Back in the Saddle Again Naturally

[@Mr6384]

Growing up my dad who did all the driving as my mom couldn’t always chose Holiday Inn’s to stop at. I clearly remember the first time he put a quarter in a Magic Fingers machine! He loved it, mom hated it! Thanks for this video

[@aodhganmerrimac]

As kids, my sister & I spent more than a few quarters begged from our parents on Magic Fingers during road trip vacations in new England. Fond memories! Thanks!

[@ingridfong-daley5899]

Ben-wa has been fitting mattresses with vibrators cheaply for decades.

[@michaelmullins8328]

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.

[@scotto9591]

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.

[@CatMom-uw9jl]

In the late 80s I lived in an older dorm at my college. One of the rooms on our floor had a red light by the door that flashed if the fire alarm went off, installed for a deaf student years before. Scared the two girls in there half to death during the first week when somebody pulled the fire alarm in the middle of the night and they woke to a bright flashing red light along with the blaring alarm.

[@John-t1t5v]

Wow, that's a really great idea to have a vibrator hooked up to the bed & fire alarm! Could save lives. Good on you, mate!

[@CelestialLites]

As kids staying at a motel, we looked under the bed. We "may" have discovered that you could by get unlimited magic fingers by unplugging the magic fingers power cord from the coin/timer mechanism and plugging it directly into the wall socket.🤔I think statute of limitations has expired🤣

[@verdatum]

You bullseye'd me on that intro. station wagon vacations were all we could do. "What national park or civil war battlefield have we not seen yet?" And this stuff was all old when I was a kid. Like, when mom and dad saw the Magic Fingers, they laughed.

[@dangreene3895]

Lord yes, I remember Magic Fingers they were everywhere in my travels with my parents in the sixties . I think the last one I saw was sometime in the early eighties

[@psilverz4848]

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!

[@lp-xl9ld]

So THAT'S why I conk out on this very long bus route in the county where I live! Ironically, I don't remember ever seeing a Magic Fingers at any hotel my parents and I stayed at. (And I'm probably in the same age range as Mr. History Guy)

[@kurtblackwell6214]

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

[@randallmarsh1187]

That makes no sense at all! The thing that turns on the Magic Fingers is not where it's plugged in but is controlled by the 25 cents activating the timer..............no matter where it gets its power from!

[@-jeff-]

In the early 80s, I stayed in a motel and put a quarter in the Magic Fingers, and all I got was a grinding noise that had people in the other rooms banging on the walls. 😂

[@sunnyscott4876]

I'm old enough to remember when my parents would ask to see the rooms before they would check into a motel. 🤷‍♀️

[@gheroneme]

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.

[@warhawkjah]

There were a few hold outs later in in regular hotels. I'm 41. As a kid I remember seeing one in a hotel in the late 80's or possibly early 90's.