[Photo/IC]

'Caligula reincarnate'

Once the domain of seedy adult shops, vibrators can now be picked up at the health and wellbeing counter of major retailers like Wal-Mart and Rite-Aid.

A marked shift to online sales has also helped the sector mushroom into a $15 billion-a-year market in the US alone－with growth projected to take revenue to $52 billion by 2020.

"We expanded with a lot of different products. We had many of the first items that were ever made," says Ron, sitting in a conference room which would be unremarkable except for the wall-to-wall butt plugs, vibes and intimidatingly large dildos on display.

Doc Johnson's many innovations span from the "Palm Pal" in 1976 to the modern day "Tryst", a silicone device for couples or solo fun, just awarded Cosmopolitan's June sex toy of the month.

In the early days, almost every customer was male, whereas now at least half are women who, Ron says, are far more discerning consumers.

"People do a lot more research today about what they want and how they want to use it," says Ron, who introduced Chad into the trade in his teens and started him full-time after he graduated in business from the University of Miami.

The Bravermans were initially discreet about the family trade, says Chad, aware that parents of classmates at his private school might think Ron "was Caligula reincarnate... and that we were porn people."

A tour of the Doc Johnson factory－a nine-building, 215,000 square foot (20,000 square meter) campus which rose from the ashes of a devastating fire in 1995－can be an overwhelming experience.

Dozens of anatomically realistic copper-finished molds of penises, vaginas and anuses－often cast from the body parts of porn stars－sit on row upon row of shelving.