John Houghtaling was never a household name. In Fort Pierce, the town he adopted late in life, there are no streets, parks, or community centers named in his honor. There's no file on him at the St.

John Houghtaling, inventor of the vibrating Magic Fingers bed that once was pervasive in motel rooms and became a cultural touchstone for a generation of American travelers, has died. He was 92.

John Houghtaling, inventor of the vibrating Magic Fingers bed that once was pervasive in motel rooms and became a cultural touchstone for a generation of American travelers, has died. He was 92.

Life, death, crime, kitsch, nostalgia, immigrant aspirations and witty design — all of these elements converge in the world of motels, which didn’t exist before 1925. Here are five facts and phenomena ...

MIAMI (AP) -- The inventor of the "Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed," a coin-operated fixture in American motel rooms in the 1960s and '70s, has died in Florida. John Joseph Houghtaling (HUFF-tay-ling) was ...