'Magic Fingers Bed' inventor dies at 92

FORT PIERCE, Fla., June 21 (UPI) -- John Houghtaling, inventor of the coin-operated, vibrating Magic Fingers bed, has died in Florida at age 92, his son says.

Paul Houghtaling said his father died Wednesday at his Fort Pierce, Fla., home after apparently falling and hitting his head, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Magic Fingers beds became commonplace for American travelers in the 1960s, who fed quarters into the bedside coin boxes at motels across the country, activating small motors that gently shook the box springs as a "relaxation service," the newspaper said.

"It was probably the first guest-room amenity after the TV, and almost ubiquitous in motels in the 1960s and into the 1970s," Ed Watkins, editor of Lodging Hospitality magazine, told the Times.

American Heritage magazine reported that at the height of their popularity, about 250,000 Magic Fingers machines were present in U.S. motel rooms, producing about $2 million per month in sales.

The Times said John Houghtaling is survived by five other children and four grandchildren.