Dildo is a

local service district A local service district is a type of designated place in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. In the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, a local service district is a defined area led by an elected committee responsible for the deliv ...

and

designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the sta ...

in the

Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

on the island of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. It is located on the southeastern Dildo Arm of Trinity Bay about west of St. John's.

South Dildo South Dildo is a local service district and designated place in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Geography South Dildo is in Newfoundland within Subdivision Y of Division No. 1. Demographics As a designated place in ...

is a neighbouring community of 200 residents.Statistics Canada. 2022. (table). Census Profile. 2021 Census. Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 98-316-X2021001. Ottawa. Released February 9, 2022. https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/dp-pd/prof/index.cfm?Lang=E (accessed April 16, 2022). The town's unusual name has brought it a certain amount of notoriety.

Name

The place name "Dildo" is attested in this area since at least 1711, though how this came to be is unknown. The origin of the word "

dildo A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for sexual penetration or other sexual activity during masturbation or with sex partners. Dildos can be made from a number of materials and shaped like an erect human penis ...

" itself is obscure. It was once used to reference a phallus-shaped pin stuck in the edging of a row boat to act as a pivot for the oar (also known as a "thole pin" or "dole pin").Dictionary of Newfoundland and Labrador It was used as early as the 16th century for a cylindrical object such as a ''dildo glass'' (

test tube A test tube, also known as a culture tube or sample tube, is a common piece of laboratory glassware consisting of a finger-like length of glass or clear plastic tubing, open at the top and closed at the bottom. Test tubes are usually placed in s ...

), for a

phallus A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically—or, more precisel ...

-shaped sex toy, as an insult for a "contemptuous or reviling" male, and as a refrain in ballads. The name, then written as "Dildoe", was first applied to

Dildo Island Dildo Island is an island in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the largest of three islands located at the entrance to Dildo Tip in the bottom of Trinity Bay (Newfoundland), Trinity Bay, off the coast of the neighbouring ...

, located offshore from the present-day community of Dildo. This use was recorded in 1711 and 1775, and the name was thereafter applied to the Dildo Arm of Trinity Bay and other local physical features. Social scientist William Baillie Hamilton notes that Captain

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean an ...

and his assistant Michael Lane, who mapped Newfoundland in the 1760s, often displayed a sense of humour in the place names they chose, and were not above selecting names that might "offend over-sensitive" readers. Regardless of the origin, the name has brought the town of Dildo a measure of notoriety. In the 20th century, there were several campaigns to change the name; however, all were unsuccessful.

History

The Dildo area has a long history, going as far back as 2000 BC when

Maritime Archaic The Maritime Archaic is a North American cultural complex of the Late Archaic along the coast of Newfoundland, the Canadian Maritimes and northern New England. The Maritime Archaic began in approximately 7000 BC and lasted into the 18th century. ...

aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

resided at

Anderson's Cove Anderson's Cove is a former community on the south coast of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. See also * List of ghost towns in Newfoundland and Labrador A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: Peo ...

. By 700 AD, people of the

Dorset culture The Dorset was a Paleo-Eskimo culture, lasting from to between and , that followed the Pre-Dorset and preceded the Thule people (proto-Inuit) in the North American Arctic. The culture and people are named after Cape Dorset (now Kinngait) in N ...

inhabited

. In 1613,

Henry Crout Henry Crout ( fl. 1612 – 1617) was a settler and explorer, most likely from Devon in the English West Country. He became an investor in the London and Bristol Company and acted as Sir Percival Willoughby's agent and guardian to his son Thomas at t ...

, whilst sailing up Dildo Arm, came in contact with the

Beothuk The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of indigenous people who lived on the island of Newfoundland. Beginning around AD 1500, the Beothuk culture formed. This appeared to be the most recent cultural manifestation of peoples w ...

s, who were residing on Dildo Island at this time. He traded with them and left gifts. In 1711, during

Queen Anne's War Queen Anne's War (1702–1713) was the second in a series of French and Indian Wars fought in North America involving the colonial empires of Great Britain, France, and Spain; it took place during the reign of Anne, Queen of Great Britain. In E ...

, the inhabitants of Trinity Bay were ordered by

Governor Crow A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

to leave their homes during the winter, to defend themselves against the French, who burned their houses. Dildo Island was one of the places designated for this purpose. The town of Dildo was founded in the late 18th century and settled to exploit the abundance of marine resources such as

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

(mostly cod),

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s and

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

Geography

Dildo is in

within Subdivision E of Division No. 1.

Demographics

As a designated place in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Dildo recorded a population of 803 living in 363 of its 440 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 943. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Arts and culture

In August 2019, the American late-night talk show ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

'' focused on Dildo over a number of episodes. As part of the activity, host

Jimmy Kimmel James Christian Kimmel (born November 13, 1967) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the host and executive producer of ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', a late-night talk show that premiered on ABC on January 26, 2003, ...

was made honorary mayor of Dildo (the community is governed by a volunteer committee and does not have an elected mayor), and Guillermo Rodriguez, who is known as Kimmel's

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

"security guard", was made an

honorary citizen Honorary citizenship is a status bestowed by a city or other government on a foreign or native individual whom it considers to be especially admirable or otherwise worthy of the distinction. The honour usually is symbolic and does not confer an ...

of Dildo through the Newfoundland tradition of ' screeching in,' on the August 15, 2019, broadcast of the show.Archived a
Ghostarchive
and th
Wayback Machine
Rodriguez visited the community for a week. Kimmel declared

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

as Dildo's sister city. As part of his gesture, he also gave the community a sign (in the style of the

Hollywood sign The Hollywood Sign is an American landmark and cultural icon overlooking Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Originally the Hollywoodland Sign, it is situated on Mount Lee, in the Beachwood Canyon area of the Santa Monica Mountains. Spelling ...

) which sits on the hillside overlooking the community.

Government

Dildo is a local service district (LSD) that is governed by a committee responsible for the provision of certain services to the community. The chair of the LSD committee is Greg Pretty.

Gallery

File:Dildo, Newfoundland.jpg, Community of Dildo, Nfld. File:Boats in Dildo Harbour.jpg, Boats in Dildo harbour File:Seaside (27663398350).jpg, Boathouses and shanties File:Dildo Newfoundland GeorgeHouseHeritageBedAndBreakfast2016.jpg, George House B&B Inn File:Dildo harbour in late afternoon panorama 2016 DSC00598e.jpg, Dildo harbour File:Captain Dildo.jpg, Captain Dildo File:Dildo Sign 2019.jpg, Hollywood style sign File:Kimmel for Dildo Mayor.jpg, Kimmel for Mayor sign

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dildo, Newfoundland And Labrador Populated coastal places in Canada Designated places in Newfoundland and Labrador Local service districts in Newfoundland and Labrador Populated places established in the 1800s Fishing communities in Canada