When I was a dominatrix, I learned about the joys of shopping in adult toy stores, and I got to know many of the people who worked in them well. Dropping by and having a dirty chat about things that happened and in and out of the stores was one of the best perks of living in Manhattan’s West Village.

Many of my clients were fascinated with toys. At first I didn’t really understand why we needed any specialized equipment; anything longer than it is wide makes a decent dildo, and just about anything significantly longer than it is wide can have a satisfying, whiplike impact if wielded properly.

However, doing research to fulfill my more discriminating clients’ requests for quality toys showed me the imagination and craftsmanship that goes into them.

I loved how perfect the wide, flat base of a stand-up dildo is for securing it into the shibari harnesses I wore during sessions. I also gained an appreciation for the feel and snug fit of a high-quality leather dildo harness. When I found a harness that held a vibrator against my clit while also holding the dildo, I was hooked.

The first time I went shopping with one of my bendover boyfriends was unforgettable. S. was adorable and eager — and shy, as he was preparing for his first time. He thrived on what's known in the dominatrix trade as “humiliation” but is really just the bottom being the center of attention between two people who know what makes him (or her) tick (or throb).

I took him to a store on West 4th Street, where many fine establishments remain and many fine perverts remain to be found. The upstairs portion focused on stripper clothing and bachelorette parties, and the downstairs featured nipple clamps, vibrators, butt plugs and dildos designed for the discerning consumer. I led my young man to the counter and told him to let me know which of the dongs struck his fancy.

The salesperson was absurdly beautiful, tall and dark-haired, wearing eye makeup that would suit a Russian ballerina, deliciously androgynous but fabulously femme.

“I’m Mistress D., and this is S.,”

I told her. “I’m preparing him for his first time.”

“Oooh,” she cooed as if we had just offered her cupcakes. Then, revealing her Australian accent, she said, “I’m Mary. Happy to help.”

We handled a few dildos, comparing length, width and texture, talking about S. almost as if he wasn’t there. Suddenly Mary said, “Let me show you my favorite.” She reached behind the counter and pulled out a 12-inch, midnight-colored cock and slammed it onto the counter. Both of us knew it was way too big for S., but the implied threat was part of the fun.

“I like to jam this on the wall of my shower and back up onto it,” Mary told us. She slapped it hard. “It’s got a suction cup in the bottom. See how well it stays? No hands necessary!”

That was when I became fascinated not just with adult toy stores and their products, but also with the men and women who work in them.

Witnessing Mary’s obvious pleasure in educating us and being part of our little scene made me see not only the toys but the store employees in a whole new light. I had thought of it, without really thinking of it, as a retail job, and most likely a thankless one that involved negotiating endless weird requests and customer assumptions. Being a dominatrix, I liked weird requests, but I had an opportunity to screen clients beforehand for compatibility and good (bad) intentions.

I imagined these behind-the-counter providers of satisfaction did not.

There are now more people working in sex toy stores than ever before. While sex toys were once hard to find, cheaply manufactured and relatively unsafe to use — or, interestingly, made only by highly skilled artisans and sold at a high price — the industry has boomed over the past 20 years.

From New York to New Delhi, sex toys are big business; recent claims are that the industry generates $15 billion annually. While sex-industry professionals have been occasionally known to exaggerate, there's no doubt that business is bangin’, and sex-toy entrepreneurs are frequently featured in venerable Forbes magazine. Dirty businessmen have had to work around resistance from lenders and investors reluctant to be associated with the industry, but like the Horatio Algers of the Dildos, they’ve used their entrepreneurial skills to make millions with high-quality toys.

The ability to buy sex toys online has made it easier for those who are too shy to subject themselves to anything remotely like the adventure I had with S. and Mary, but brick-and-mortar businesses are thriving as well. While in conservative New Delhi people are more likely to buy online, hoping for the utmost discretion, it’s common in many major cities for these shops to have street-level storefronts and signage that clearly states what they’re about. They no longer inhabit the worst neighborhoods; sex-toy stores have gone from being dark, dirty caves riddled with shame to being clean, well-lighted establishments. As stores have become more open about welcoming couples and offering educational services, they’ve attracted a greater number of employees who are attracted to kink and sexual exploration and are anything but reluctant to do the job. No matter the economy, sex always sells, even when sex businesses can’t find investors willing to put their logos on the line. And at the point of sale are some of the most dirty-minded, enthusiastic purveyors of perversion you’ll find.

In the spirit of Studs Terkel, I interviewed several of these workers about their jobs. I’d expected more ambivalence, but everyone was enthusiastic about their work. Some were even anxious to continue it or had opened their own stores. Although most of them described former jobs, none of them seemed to be looking back in anger, and all had a sense of humor and adventure about working at everyone else’s playground.

Morgan S. couldn’t wait to get started on her first toy store job. She went directly to a two-story mega-toy-store in her hometown of Denver City, Texas, and asked for a job. “I had just turned 18 and thought it would be fun, so I showed up, filled out an application, and wouldn’t leave until I spoke with a manager. He was nice, but he told me he didn’t hire 18-year-olds, and certainly not 18-year-old girls. I convinced him I could do wonders for his store and his sales if he would just give me a shot, and he did. He didn’t regret his decision. I could sell anything to anyone and had a way of making people not feel ashamed, but empowered instead.” Though she only worked there four months before leaving for college, she loved the environment and said the staff, whom were older, took her under their wings: “They taught me all they knew about kink, love, sex and life. It was the best way to start my journey into adulthood!”

She enjoyed the experience so much that right after she moved to Dallas, she saw a “Condoms to Go” sign off the highway and stopped to speak with the manager, “a young, fun chick.” She got a job and worked there the entire year she lived in Dallas. “Dildos and vibrators were illegal in Texas," she says, “so they referred to them as cake toppers and personal massagers.” It was considered a “novelty shop,” and people would browse in groups to laugh at things, then come back alone the next day to make purchases. “The most popular items were the Rabbit and everything shaped like a dick for bachelorette parties. I had to make everyone feel comfortable and educate them in a way that wouldn’t get me arrested!”

After moving from Dallas, she opened her own store in Austin, targeting a customer base of young women and couples while still welcoming the occasional single man. She focused on making the store into a high-end adult boutique, selling locally made artisan toys such as handblown glass dildos and elaborate BDSM furniture. She only closed the store after losing her lease when rents in the area skyrocketed, but she retains her fondness for the industry.

Felicia’s career was shorter, but still action-packed. Working in a tiny store in Reno, Nevada, for the better part of a year, she went through extensive product-knowledge training and sold everything from basic bullet vibrators to full-torso masturbators, beginner’s bondage equipment, and all the latest adult DVDs. One of the shop's main attractions was a video arcade, which she described as “always full of interesting characters.”

“One rough-looking man — think portly, old-school biker — came in and went straight into the arcade. After being back there for 30 minutes or so he came out, obviously inebriated, and told me he needed help finding an outfit. When I asked who it was for, he lifted the leg of his jeans to reveal the pantyhose he was wearing underneath. We carried all sizes of corsets and stockings, so I helped him pick some that would fit, along with matching panties, a garter belt and fishnet stockings. He told me he was going to go home, get dressed up and come back later.”

While some might have found this level of intimacy with customers awkward, Felicia loved it. “Working there was a great experience. It was one of my favorite jobs.” She left not because the clientele was demanding, but because the management was difficult. Currently she intends to pursue a career as a sex educator.

Some workers get even more intimate with their customers. While not appreciating “the dudes flashing me in the parking lot,” Annie in Kansas City indulged herself and a customer in every sex-toy store visitor’s fantasy when she developed a crush on a regular. “I ended up looking at his name on his credit card and looking him up on Facebook,” she remembers. “We ended up having lots of sex. We had lots of sex in the porn store. We’d lock the front door and go at it in the dressing room. Now, years later, he’s my hair stylist. We both lie about how we know each other.” Now that’s how you sell sex toys!

Of course, not all strangers are interested in intimacy. “I cannot begin to count how many times I sold a dildo or vibrator to a woman claiming it was for a bachelorette party, or sold an inflatable doll or pocket pussy to a man claiming it for ‘a prank on one of my frat brothers,’” says Schaffer the Darklord, former adult-merchandise vendor and current Nerdcore rapper.

Schaffer told me he started as a customer and ended up an employee.

“I was a college sophomore. I’d visited another store before but didn’t know that the Adult Marketplace existed. The day I checked it out, I saw a ‘Now Hiring’ sign on the door. When I went it, I was met with an intimidating glare from the woman who managed the joint. I panicked, froze and blurted out, ‘Uh, I’m just interested in the job.’ She had me fill out an application and interviewed me on the spot. I left without even looking around, which is why I went there in the first place!

The next day she offered me the job. I started that night.”

Corinne had similar customers when she worked at The Pink Pussycat, one of the oldest adult toy stores in New York City. The store was a huge mecca for NYU scavenger hunts, she says, swearing it was part of NYU student tradition to come in and harass them with stupid questions about nipple clamps and then leave without buying anything.

Corinne’s father ran The Pink Pussycat, and she started working there when she was still a virgin. “By the end of that summer,” she said, “I was a virgin with a skilled sales pitch on edible underwear and novelty sheep.” The retail staff there were called “PussyCats” and were known for being playful and wacky.

Jonny currently manages a toy store in Austin, Texas, called Forbidden Fruit. He focuses his efforts on having a “‘not creepy’ sex store” that sells a lot of condoms, lube, high-end vibrators and under-the-bed restraints, as well as riding crops they get from a horse tack supplier in Tennessee. The store also provides workshops and seminars on a wide variety of sexuality topics. About the only conversation he can’t abide is an argument with a bargain hunter, such as when a customer recently told him his prices were too high because she could get the same things cheaper at WalMart. He laughed and said, “We don’t compete with online prices and we damn sure don’t compete with WalMart!” He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I never thought I’d end up working in a sex store, but I love it. I love the products, I love my customers, and I love being ‘that guy’ when someone has a question about anything relating to sex and relationships.”

Relationships are a reality in many toy stores — and not just the fuckbuddy kind Annie had with her regular.

Avital currently works at Babeland, New York City’s gold standard for sexy, kinky education and merchandise. All of Babeland's employees are trained sex educators. The store is designed and marketed to be female-friendly while still being sure to welcome customers of all orientations and genders. One of their strongest selling techniques is having samples of the merchandise out for customers to handle and discuss with the retail staff. “I got hired fairly fresh out of college, mostly because I’d conquered a hellish retail experience working Christmas at an overpriced boomer jewelry boutique that insisted on handwritten receipts.

I also have a background in improvisational acting and told my interviewer a story about how I taught my entire cabin of fellow campers how to masturbate when I was 11.“

On her first day, she got a taste of her own medicine when she approached a woman in her mid-70s who was admiring their wall of vibrators. “I summoned all of the courage this newly-minted 22-year-old sex educator had, and asked, ‘Do you have any questions about anything?’ She turned around grinning and said, ‘I’m 74 years old, I’ve been married three times and I have eight children. Do you have any questions for me?’ We high fived and she bought a Magic Wand vibrator. Her seventh!

“I also got to help a television production assistant put together items for a serial killer’s BDSM murder dungeon, which although not the most sex-positive of encounters, was a really fun challenge.

“I’ve helped out all kinds of customers: celebrities, tourists, nervous teens, bachelorettes. I’ve taken a butt plug out of a child’s mouth when he mistook it for a pacifier. I’ve helped johns buy tribute gifts for their pro-dommes. I’ve been hugged by a man in his fifties who tearfully admitted to feeling like less than a man after having his prostate removed. We get a lot of customers who are referred to us by their doctors for help with painful sex. I’ve sold condoms with one hand while giving out Halloween candy to kids with the other. It’s really been an amazing few years.”