For those of you who aren't subscribed to officialgaiman or don't otherwise see Neil Gaiman's blog, I found this fascinating in a number of respects. CAUTION: the link goes not a not-entirely-worksafe site. Having given the warning, I now pass this along:
I was fascinated to learn the true history of the Hello Kitty vibrator.
I repeat, probably not worksafe, follow the link at your own risk/discretion.