A device invented in late 1840s Michigan that fell out of use by the end of the 19th century. No sketches or diagrams of the device are known to exist, though its name and contemporaneous accounts from diaries, letters and other primary sources suggest that its use was sexual in nature. To wit, "Ere I been Gone Now Two Moons marchng with Genneral Grant and Tis All I can Bear to Bee without the Warm Comfort of Your Bed as you Work the Genital Crank in the Night-time," one Union soldier wrote to his mistress in 1863. References to the "Sex Axe," thought to be a component of the genital crank, buttress this theory. The genital crank is also thought to have played a role in the mysterious sexual act known as "Getting Hometowned in Jackson."
by Lonnie J. August 29, 2006