So I was out browsing the second-hand book stalls, and came across a title which instantly grabbed my attention: 'The Woman Who Tickled Too Much: Incredible stories from inside Britain's Law Courts.' I had many questions:
-How could you tickle 'too much?'
-Who is this woman?
-How can I meet her?
And so on. So I bought the book, and found it to be a series of unusual court cases from the UK courts, the first one dealing with the titular tickler. I thought I'd share it with you:
The gist of it is that, on the 16th July 1963, a judgement was reached in the case of one Mrs Lines, who was seeking a divorce from her husband. She was seeking the divorce on the basis of cruelty on her husband's part. They had only been married six months.
This is an extract from the book:
"It all started just a week into the marriage when the husband returned home from work, remover his shoes and socks and demanded that his wife tickle his feet. The wife reported that she found the request 'peculiar' and refused. The husband threatened not to talk to her unless she did as he asked...
She complies with his request. But that seemes to stoke his appetite for tickling rather than quenching it. Nearly every night from then on he insisted on being tickled. Mrs. Lines complained to the court that he even demanded this when they were watching television...
Some nights the tickle sessions went on for over four hours. The reports suggested that, although Mrs. Lines would have enjoyed being tickled, Mr. Lines never reciprocated.
The tickling got too much for the wife and in January 1959 she left the husband for two days. She only agreed to return when the husband promised to give up tickling... Although Mr. Lines promised to give up for good, within a few days he was importuning for tickling.
By February 1959 things were in a dire state. The wife went to her doctor who reported her to be suffering from acute anxiety and stated that the excessive tickling meant that she was no longer able to keep her hands still... The problems with her hands persisted. Indeed when she gave evidence before the court the judge noticed that Mrs. Lines' hands moved in what appeared to be involuntary tickling movements.
The husband had been warned of the effects of his tickling demands on his wife's health and yet had insisted on it with no regard to her well-being. That amounted to cruelty, on which grounds the divorce was granted."
The author goes on to wonder whether "Mr. Lines' enthusiasm for foot tickling had erotic motivation" (I think we would all agree there's a very good chance of that), but states that, if it were the case, "he would not have been alone." He cites a paper about 'the erotic possibility of feet and shoes' by one Dr. Benamou in the French Journal 'Foot Medicine and Surgery' which states that the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsout and Grand Dutchess Anna Leopoldovana, among others, would employ people to tickle their feet.
Interesting stuff! I often wonder about the history of the tickle-fetish before the internet. Were there that many ticklephiles out there? And poor Mrs. Lines! I'd like to think we tickle-lovers are a more considerate bunch now than in the fifties!
(Oh, and in case you don't believe me, I found it on amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Woman-Who-Tickled-Too-Much/dp/0273723251 See - I didn't just make this all up!)
-How could you tickle 'too much?'
-Who is this woman?
-How can I meet her?
And so on. So I bought the book, and found it to be a series of unusual court cases from the UK courts, the first one dealing with the titular tickler. I thought I'd share it with you:
The gist of it is that, on the 16th July 1963, a judgement was reached in the case of one Mrs Lines, who was seeking a divorce from her husband. She was seeking the divorce on the basis of cruelty on her husband's part. They had only been married six months.
This is an extract from the book:
"It all started just a week into the marriage when the husband returned home from work, remover his shoes and socks and demanded that his wife tickle his feet. The wife reported that she found the request 'peculiar' and refused. The husband threatened not to talk to her unless she did as he asked...
She complies with his request. But that seemes to stoke his appetite for tickling rather than quenching it. Nearly every night from then on he insisted on being tickled. Mrs. Lines complained to the court that he even demanded this when they were watching television...
Some nights the tickle sessions went on for over four hours. The reports suggested that, although Mrs. Lines would have enjoyed being tickled, Mr. Lines never reciprocated.
The tickling got too much for the wife and in January 1959 she left the husband for two days. She only agreed to return when the husband promised to give up tickling... Although Mr. Lines promised to give up for good, within a few days he was importuning for tickling.
By February 1959 things were in a dire state. The wife went to her doctor who reported her to be suffering from acute anxiety and stated that the excessive tickling meant that she was no longer able to keep her hands still... The problems with her hands persisted. Indeed when she gave evidence before the court the judge noticed that Mrs. Lines' hands moved in what appeared to be involuntary tickling movements.
The husband had been warned of the effects of his tickling demands on his wife's health and yet had insisted on it with no regard to her well-being. That amounted to cruelty, on which grounds the divorce was granted."
The author goes on to wonder whether "Mr. Lines' enthusiasm for foot tickling had erotic motivation" (I think we would all agree there's a very good chance of that), but states that, if it were the case, "he would not have been alone." He cites a paper about 'the erotic possibility of feet and shoes' by one Dr. Benamou in the French Journal 'Foot Medicine and Surgery' which states that the Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsout and Grand Dutchess Anna Leopoldovana, among others, would employ people to tickle their feet.
Interesting stuff! I often wonder about the history of the tickle-fetish before the internet. Were there that many ticklephiles out there? And poor Mrs. Lines! I'd like to think we tickle-lovers are a more considerate bunch now than in the fifties!
(Oh, and in case you don't believe me, I found it on amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Woman-Who-Tickled-Too-Much/dp/0273723251 See - I didn't just make this all up!)
