Sex toys have been around for a very long time - and we have the artifacts to prove it! Read the news and you will see - it seems like you can't do an archaeological dig without someone pulling a dildo out of the mud.
Linguistically, we find the word dildo has historical roots, but there are a couple cultures taking credit for it. The first of the two competing theories is that it's from an Italian word, diletto, which mean "a woman’s delight."
The other theory is that the word dildo comes from an old Norse word, dila, a verb that means "to soothe," and then the English took "dil" and added "doll," so it would mean "a doll that soothes."
We have lots of evidence of them made of stone, wood, or plants - roots in particular that get boiled and hardened so that people can use them for penetration.
In Greek literature dating back to 500 BCE they even write of dildos made of leather and wood. They used olive oil as a lubricant. So, historically, at least one sex toy, the dildo, has been around for quite some time. And, baerosed on erotic art, we can pretty safely say the Romans are credited with inventing the first double dildo.
So, yes. Sex toys - or at least some kinds of sex toys - have been around for a long time. I think we're lucky to have much better materials and designs these days then way back then, but our desires remain unchanged!
