Sex and the Senior Center

Here's something to consider over your corn flakes this morning.

They were developed to suppress the libido.

Dr. John Harvey Kellogg, the superintendent of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Michigan, created the cereal in an effort to reduce a woman's passion.

He believed that sweet or spicy foods could increase a woman's sex drive. So he created a mix of basic ingredients to offset this reaction.

Graham crackers have a similar back story. They were developed by Rev. Sylvester Graham, who also thought bland foods would reduce sexual behavior.

These tidbits were among the many eye-opening historic vignettes related by Patricia Perry, an historical interpreter who travels the area with historic talks on a range of topics.

She presented a program Monday, May 23 at the Grafton Senior Center on the history of sex and prostitution.

The program, which was for those 21 and older, looked at sexual mores throughout the years and featured a variety of frank photos and items.

With humor and no-holds-barred language, she explained the approaches of the ancient Japanese, Indians, Chinese, Greeks and Romans toward sex . She even brought along photos to underscore her point that sex has been a lively mainstay in history.

"We tend to think we've invented this,'' she said, referring to sex.

Those at yesterday's program were left with little doubt that this was not the case.

For more information on her programs, visit http://sneakpeekproductions.com.