This column is for adults only

There was wine. There was cheese. There were 15 women, chatting quietly in the living room of an apartment in Old Town. It could have been any other party. Only it wasn’t. It wasn’t for children. And neither is what you’re about to read.

It was similar to Avon, Tupperware or the Pampered Chef, or any party where a sales representative presents a product and attendees have an opportunity to buy. But again, it was a different kind of party.

There were toys.

Adult toys. Toys of all shapes, flavors and sizes, for use by consenting adults in the privacy of their own homes, presented by a product representative we’ll call the Temptress.

Get it?

We did, and quickly, as the Temptress first passed around a tray of fruit-flavored body paints.

“And these won’t stain your sheets,” the Temptress said, ticking off all the great things about the paints.

“Oh, that’s nice to know,” one guest murmured back. Why is it that we’re thinking of laundry even when confronted with fruit-flavored body paint?

The Temptress is, in her real life, a 31-year-old Hancock County resident with a husband of almost nine years, a daughter, and a perfectly respectable day job. At night she travels around the area appearing at parties where she sells adult toys.

If you’re shocked by all of this – if you’re thinking, this doesn’t happen around here, and no one I know would go to something like this – think again. The Temptress has appeared at 10 such parties since January in towns from Machias to Bangor with possible future bookings as far south as Rockland and Brunswick. And she’s just one of four local representatives of the Florida-based company Edible Ecstasy.

The party I recently attended in Old Town was hosted by a friend of mine, a 23-year old woman who will graduate next month from the University of Maine. The guests ranged in age from 19 to 29. Some were married, others were in committed relationships, still more were single. There were straight women and bisexual women.

Any one of them could have been your wife, girlfriend, daughter, sister or mother (the Temptress has appeared at parties with women of retirement age).

And that woman you know may have even bought something. Some women buy products for themselves, but many buy products to share in an exclusive relationship. And the Temptress doesn’t see the harm in any of it.

“You have to think of how it’s helping people,” she said. “It’s not hurting anyone. It’s not designed to be bad and perverse.”

Here’s how it works: after a round of introductions and an icebreaker game, the Temptress presented the lotions and potions portion of the evening. After a quick break and another game, she displayed her toy selection.

It was a no-pressure sales pitch. The Temptress told us about some of her top sellers, items that get rave reviews and best deals. She passed everything around so we could see it all up close. It took me a few minutes to actually believe what I was holding, but after the evening I felt like less of a prude and a lot more educated. The stuff is out there. Might as well get used to it.

After she finished presenting her wares and the partygoers filled out their order forms, the Temptress set up a credit card swipe machine in a different room. Women went in one at a time for privacy (although this being a group of friends, many revealed what they bought anyway).

She kept things very professional at the Old Town party, sipping on iced water while most of us drank wine. She explained what products did what, but in relatively clinical terms. Party guests must be at least 18 years old. And no strippers allowed, according to the list of rules she hands out to hosts prior to the parties.

“I do treat it as a product,” she said. “I think it’s a product that a lot of men and women enjoy. But I do treat it as a business.”

And the men – the significant others – how did they feel about the prospect of their wives or girlfriends coming home with a toy? Most of the women said their guys were a bit titillated with the evening’s adventures. Odette, a 23-year-old UMaine student, said her boyfriend didn’t want her to buy anything. One woman’s husband didn’t think she was seriously considering any purchases. But she was, and she did buy a few things.

For Abby, a University of Maine student who grew up in Monmouth, going to these parties is nothing new. Abby’s mother took her to one when she was 17 (but never allowed her to purchase anything until she was older). Abby is 22 and in a relationship now, but she’s bought toys for herself as a single person, too.

“My mom brought me up thinking that sex is a good thing,” Abby said. “Maybe it’s weird. I just don’t think people should be embarrassed about it. It should be fun. It should be something they want to do.”

You can’t exactly get in touch with the Temptress through the yellow pages, so she gets party bookings based on word-of-mouth. One person hosts a party, a friend attends and decides she wants to host one of her own, and so forth. The Temptress got into the business after she attended a party herself.

Company representatives earn 40 percent of the evening’s profits and have chances at other discounts and incentives. That’s what attracted the Temptress to the company.

But the cash is just one thing that drives her. The Temptress recently sold some items to a married couple that was having real trouble in bed that was affecting their relationship. The products helped.

“She loves it, he loves it, and she was so happy,” the Temptress said. “She called me and thanked me, from both [her husband] and her. I love that. I love that I can make people happy.”

Jessica Bloch can be reached at jbloch@bangordailynews.net.