History of condoms
Encyclopedia
The history of condoms goes back at least several centuries, and perhaps beyond. For most of their history, condom
s have been used both as a method of birth control
, and as a protective measure against sexually transmitted disease
s. Condoms have been made from a variety of materials; prior to the 19th century, chemically treated linen and animal tissue (intestine or bladder) are the best documented varieties. Rubber condoms gained popularity in the mid-19th century, and in the early 20th century major advances were made in manufacturing techniques. Prior to the introduction of the combined oral contraceptive pill, condoms were the most popular birth control method in the Western world. In the second half of the 20th century, the low cost of condoms contributed to their importance in family planning
programs throughout the developing world. Condoms have also become increasingly important in efforts to fight the AIDS pandemic
.
as a woman's responsibility, and the only well-documented contraception methods were female-controlled devices (both possibly effective, such as pessaries
, and ineffective, such as amulet
s). The writings of these societies contain "veiled references" to male-controlled contraceptive methods that might have been condoms, but most historians interpret them as referring to coitus interruptus
or anal sex
.
The loincloth
s worn by Egyptian and Greek laborers were very spare, sometimes consisting of little more than a covering for the glans of the penis. Records of these types of loincloths being worn by men in higher classes have made some historians speculate they were worn during intercourse; others, however, are doubtful of such interpretations. Historians may also cite one legend of Minos
, related by Antoninus Liberalis
in 150
AD, as suggestive of condom use in ancient societies. This legend describes a curse that caused Minos' semen to contain serpents and scorpions. To protect his sexual partner from these animals, Minos used a goat's bladder as a female condom.
Contraceptives fell out of use in Europe after the decline of the Roman Empire
in the 5th century; the use of contraceptive pessaries, for example, is not documented again until the 15th century. If condoms were used during the Roman Empire, knowledge of them may have been lost during its decline. A contributing factor to the loss of contraceptive knowledge was the rise of Catholicism
, which considers all forms of birth control to be sin
s. In the writings of Muslims and Jews during the Middle Ages, there are some references to attempts at male-controlled contraception, including suggestions to cover the penis in tar or soak it in onion juice. Some of these writings might describe condom use, but they are "oblique", "veiled", and "vague".
Prior to the 15th century, some use of glans condoms (devices covering only the head of the penis) is recorded in Asia. Glans condoms seem to have been used for birth control, and to have been known only by members of the upper classes. In China, glans condoms may have been made of oiled silk paper, or of lamb intestines. In Japan, they were made of tortoise shell or animal horn.
The first well-documented outbreak of what is now known as syphilis
occurred in 1494 among French troops. The disease then swept across Europe. As Jared Diamond
describes it, "when syphilis was first definitely recorded in Europe in 1495, its pustules often covered the body from the head to the knees, caused flesh to fall from people's faces, and led to death within a few months." (The disease is less frequently fatal today.) By 1505, the disease had spread to Asia, and within a few decades had "decimated large areas of China".
In 16th century Italy, Gabriele Falloppio
authored the earliest uncontested description of condom use. De Morbo Gallico ("The French Disease", referring to syphilis) was published in 1564, two years after Fallopio's death. In this tract, he recommended use of a device he claimed to have invented: linen sheaths soaked in a chemical solution and allowed to dry before use. The cloths he described were sized to cover the glans
of the penis, and were held on with a ribbon. Fallopio claimed to have performed an experimental trial of the linen sheath on 1100 men, and reported that none of them had contracted the dreaded disease.
After the publication of De Morbo Gallico, use of penis coverings to protect from disease is described in a wide variety of literature throughout Europe. The first indication these devices were used for birth control, rather than disease prevention, is the 1605 theological publication De iustitia et iure (On justice and law) by Catholic theologian Leonardus Lessius
: he condemned them as immoral. The first explicit description that un petit linge (a small cloth) was used to prevent pregnancy is from 1655: a French novel and play titled L'Escole des Filles (The Philosophy of Girls). In 1666, the English Birth Rate Commission attributed a recent downward fertility rate to use of "condons", the first documented use of that word (or any similar spelling).
In addition to linen, condoms during the Renaissance
were made out of intestines and bladder. Cleaned and prepared intestine for use in glove making had been sold commercially since at least the 13th century. Condoms made from bladder and dating to the 1640s were discovered in an English privy; it is believed they were used by soldiers of King Charles I
. Dutch traders introduced condoms made from "fine leather" to Japan. Unlike the horn condoms used previously, these leather condoms covered the entire penis.
asked Parliament (unsuccessfully) to make the devices illegal. Noted English physician Daniel Turner condemned the condom, publishing his arguments against their use in 1717. He disliked condoms because they did not offer full protection against syphilis. He also seems to have argued that belief in the protection condoms offered encouraged men to engage sex with unsafe partners - but then, because of the loss of sensation caused by condoms, these same men often neglected to actually use the devices. The French medical professor Jean Astruc
wrote his own anti-condom treatise in 1736, citing Turner as the authority in this area. Physicians later in the 18th century also spoke against the condom, but not on medical grounds: rather, they expressed the belief that contraception was immoral.
The condom market grew rapidly, however. 18th century condoms were available in a variety of qualities and sizes, made from either linen treated with chemicals, or "skin" (bladder or intestine softened by treatment with sulphur and lye
). They were sold at pubs, barbershops, chemist shops, open-air markets, and at the theater throughout Europe and Russia. The first recorded inspection of condom quality is found in the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova
(which cover his life until 1774): to test for holes, he would often blow them up before use.
Couples in colonial America relied on female-controlled methods of contraception, if they used contraceptives at all. The first known documents describing American condom use were written around 1800, two to three decades after the American Revolutionary War
. Also around 1800, linen condoms lost popularity in the market and their production ceased: they were more expensive and were viewed as less comfortable when compared to skin condoms.
Up to the 19th century, condoms were generally used only by the middle and upper classes. One reason for the lack of condom use was that the working classes tended to lack education on the dangers of sexually transmitted infections. Perhaps more importantly, condoms were unaffordable for many: for a typical prostitute, a single condom might cost several months' pay.
and Richard Carlile
, and noted American advocates included Robert Dale Owen
and Charles Knowlton
. Writers on contraception tended to prefer other methods of birth control, citing both the expense of condoms and their unreliability (they were often riddled with holes, and often fell off or broke), but they discussed condoms as a good option for some, and as the only contraceptive that also protected from disease. One group of British contraceptive advocates distributed condom literature in poor neighborhoods, with instructions on how to make the devices at home; in the 1840s, similar tracts were distributed in both cities and rural areas through the United States.
From the 1820s through the 1870s, popular women and men lecturers traveled around America teaching about physiology and sexual matters. Many of them sold birth control devices, including condoms, after their lectures. They were condemned by many moralists and medical professionals, including America's first woman doctor Elizabeth Blackwell
. Blackwell accused the lecturers of spreading doctrines of "abortion and prostitution". In the 1840s, advertisements for condoms began to appear in British newspapers, and in 1861 a condom advertisement appeared in the New York Times.
The rubber vulcanization process was invented by Charles Goodyear
in 1839, and patented in 1844. The first rubber condom was produced in 1855, and by the late 1850s several major rubber companies were mass producing, among other items, rubber condoms. A main advantage of rubber condoms was their reusability, making them a more economical choice in the long term. Compared to the 19th century rubber condoms, however, skin condoms were initially cheaper and offered better sensitivity. For these reasons, skin condoms remained more popular than the rubber variety. However, by the end of the 19th century "rubber" had become a euphemism for condoms in countries around the world. For many decades, rubber condoms were manufactured by wrapping strips of raw rubber around penis-shaped molds, then dipping the wrapped molds in a chemical solution to cure the rubber. The earliest rubber condoms covered only the glans of the penis; a doctor had to measure each man and order the correct size. Even with the medical fittings, however, glans condoms tended to fall off during use. Rubber manufacturers quickly discovered they could sell more devices by manufacturing full-length one-size-fits-all condoms to be sold in pharmacies.
the 1889 Indecent Advertisements Act made it illegal to advertise condoms, although their manufacture and sale remained legal. Contraceptives were illegal in 19th century Italy and Germany, but condoms were allowed for disease prevention. Despite legal obstacles, condoms continued to be readily available in both Europe and America, widely advertised under euphemisms such as male shield and rubber good. In late 19th century England, condoms were known as "a little something for the weekend". Only in the Republic of Ireland
were condoms effectively outlawed. There, their sale and manufacture remained illegal until the 1970s.
Opposition to condoms did not only come from moralists: by the late 19th century the feminist movement in both Europe and America was decidedly anti-condom. Feminists wanted birth control to be exclusively in the hands of women, and disapproved of male-controlled methods such as the condom. Despite social and legal opposition, at the end of the 19th century the condom was the Western world's most popular birth control method. Two surveys conducted in New York in 1890 and 1900 found that 45% of the women surveyed were using condoms to prevent pregnancy. A survey in Boston just prior to World War I
concluded that three million condoms were sold in that city every year.
1870s England saw the founding of the first major condom manufacturing company, E. Lambert and Son of Dalston. In 1882, German immigrant Julius Schmidt founded one of the largest and longest-lasting condom businesses, Julius Schmid, Inc. (he dropped the 't' from his name in an effort to appear less Jewish). This New York business initially manufactured only skin condoms (in 1890 he was arrested by Anthony Comstock
for having almost seven hundred of the devices in his house). In 1912, a German named Julius Fromm
developed a new, improved manufacturing technique for condoms: dipping glass molds into a raw rubber solution. Called cement dipping, this method required adding gasoline or benzene to the rubber to make it liquid. In America, Schmid was the first company to use the new technique. Using the new dipping method, French condom manufacturers were the first to add textures to condoms. Fromm was the first company to sell a branded line of condoms, Fromm's Act, which remains popular Germany today. The condom lines manufactured by Schmid, Shieks and Ramses, were sold through the late 1990s. Youngs Rubber Company, founded by Merle Youngs in late 19th century America, introduced Trojans.
Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, American rates of sexually transmitted diseases skyrocketed. Causes cited by historians include effects of the American Civil War
, and the ignorance of prevention methods promoted by the Comstock laws. To fight the growing epidemic, sexual education classes were introduced to public schools for the first time, teaching about venereal diseases and how they were transmitted. They generally taught that abstinence was the only way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms were not promoted for disease prevention; the medical community and moral watchdogs considered STDs to be punishment for sexual misbehavior. The stigma on victims of these diseases was so great that many hospitals refused to treat people who had syphilis.
The German military was the first to promote condom use among its soldiers, beginning in the second half of the 19th century. Early 20th century experiments by the American military concluded that providing condoms to soldiers significantly lowered rates of sexually transmitted diseases. During World War I
, the United States and (at the beginning of the war only) Britain were the only countries with soldiers in Europe who did not provide condoms and promote their use. By the end of the war, the American military had diagnosed almost 400,000 cases of syphilis and gonorrhea
, a historic high.
From just before 1900 to the beginning of World War I, almost all condoms used in Europe were imported from Germany. Germany not only exported condoms to other European countries, but was a major supplier to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. During the war, the American companies Schmid and Youngs became the main suppliers of condoms to the European Allies
. By the early 1920s, however, most of Europe's condoms were once again made in Germany.
In 1918, just before the end of the war, an American court overturned a conviction against Margaret Sanger
. In this case, the judge ruled that condoms could be legally advertised and sold for the prevention of disease. There were still a few state laws against buying and selling contraceptives, and advertising condoms as birth control devices remained illegal in over thirty states. But condoms began to be publicly, legally sold to Americans for the first time in forty-five years. Through the 1920s, catchy names and slick packaging became an increasingly important marketing technique for many consumer items, including condoms and cigarettes. Quality testing became more common, involving filling each condom with air followed by one of several methods intended to detect loss of pressure. Several American companies sold their rejects under cheaper brand names rather than discarding them. Consumers were advised to perform similar tests themselves before use, although few actually did so. Worldwide, condoms sales doubled in the 1920s.
Still, there were many prominent opponents of condoms. Founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud
opposed all methods of birth control on the grounds that their failure rates were too high. Freud was especially opposed to the condom because it cut down on sexual pleasure. Some feminists continued to oppose male-controlled contraceptives such as condoms. Many moralists and medical professionals opposed all methods of contraception. In 1920 the Church of England's Lambeth Conference condemned all "unnatural means of conception avoidance." London's Bishop Arthur Winnington-Ingram
complained of the huge number of condoms discarded in alleyways and parks, especially after weekends and holidays.
In the U.S., condom advertising was legally restricted to their use as disease preventatives. They could be openly marketed as birth control devices in Britain, but purchasing condoms in Britain was socially awkward compared to the U.S. They were generally requested with the euphemism "a little something for the weekend." Boots, the largest pharmacy chain in Britain, stopped selling condoms altogether in the 1920s, a policy that was not reversed until the 1960s. In post-World War I France, the government was concerned about falling birth rates. In response, it outlawed all contraceptives, including condoms. Contraception was also illegal in Spain. European militaries continued to provide condoms to their members for disease protection, even in countries where they were illegal for the general population.
Until the twenties, all condoms were individually hand-dipped by semiskilled workers. Throughout the decade of the 1920s, advances in automation of condom assembly line were made. Fred Killian patented the first fully automated line in 1930 and installed it in his manufacturing plant in Akron, Ohio. Killian charged $20,000 for his conveyor system - as much as $2 million in today's dollars. Automated lines dramatically lowered the price of condoms. Major condom manufacturers bought or leased conveyor systems, and small manufacturers were driven out of business. The skin condom, now significantly more expensive than the latex variety, became restricted to a niche high-end market.
in the U.S. issued a similar statement.
The Roman Catholic Church responded by issuing the encyclical Casti Connubii
affirming its opposition to all contraceptives, a stance it has never reversed. Semen analysis
was first performed in the 1930s. Samples were typically collected by masturbation, another action opposed by the Catholic Church. In 1930s Spain, the first use of collection condoms was documented; holes put in the condom allowed the user to collect a sample without violating the prohibitions on contraception and masturbation.
In 1932, Margaret Sanger arranged for a shipment of diaphragms
to be mailed from Japan to a sympathetic doctor in New York City. When U.S. customs confiscated the package as illegal contraceptive devices, Sanger helped file a lawsuit. In 1936, a federal appeals court ruled in United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries
that the federal government could not interfere with doctors providing contraception to their patients. In 1938, over three hundred birth control clinics opened in America, supplying reproductive care (including condoms) to poor women all over the country. Programs led by U.S. Surgeon General
Thoman Parran included heavy promotion of condoms. These programs are credited with a steep drop in the U.S. STD rate by 1940.
Two of the few places where condoms became more restricted during this period were Fascist Italy
and Nazi Germany
. Because of government concern about low birth rates, contraceptives were made illegal in Italy in the late 1920s. Although limited and highly controlled sales as disease preventatives were still allowed, there was a brisk black market trade in condoms as birth control. In Germany, laws passed in 1933 mandated that condoms could only be sold in plain brown wrappers, and only at pharmacies. Despite these restrictions, when World War II
began Germans were using 72 million condoms every year. The elimination of moral and legal barriers, and the introduction of condom programs by the U.S. government helped condom sales. However, these factors alone are not considered to explain the Great Depression
's booming condom industry. In the U.S. alone, more than 1.5 million condoms were used every day during the Depression, at a cost of over $33 million per year (not adjusted for inflation). One historian explains these statistics this way: "Condoms were cheaper than children." During the Depression was that condom lines by Schmid gained in popularity: that company still used the cement-dipping method of manufacture. Unlike the latex variety, these condoms could be safely used with oil-based lubricants. And while less comfortable, older-style rubber condoms could be reused and so were more economical, a valued feature in hard times.
More attention was brought to quality issues in the 1930s. In 1935, a biochemist tested 2000 condoms by filling each one with air and then water: he found that 60% of them leaked. The condom industry estimated that only 25% of condoms were tested for quality before packaging. The media attention led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
to classify condoms as a drug in 1937 and mandate that every condom be tested before packaging. Youngs Rubber Company was the first to institute quality testing of every condom they made, installing automatic testing equipment designed by Arthur Youngs (the owner's brother) in 1938. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
authorized the FDA to seize defective products; the first month the Act took effect in 1940, the FDA seized 864,000 condoms. While these actions improved the quality of condoms in the United States, American condom manufacturers continued to export their rejects for sale in foreign markets.
condoms were not only distributed to male U.S. military members, but their use was heavily promoted with films, posters, and lectures. A number of slogans were coined by the military, with one film exhorting "Don't forget — put it on before you put it in." African-American soldiers served in segregated units. They were exposed to less of the condom promotion programs, had lower rates of condom usage, and much higher rates of STDs. America's female military units, the WACs and WAACs, were still subject to abstinence programs. European and Asian militaries on both sides of the conflict also provided condoms to their troops throughout the war, even Germany which outlawed all civilian use of condoms in 1941. Despite the rubber shortages that occurred during this period, condom manufacturing was never restricted. In part because condoms were readily available, soldiers found a number of non-sexual uses for the devices, many of which continue to be utilized to this day.
Post-war American troops in Germany continued to receive condoms and materials promoting their use. Nevertheless, rates of STDs in this population began to rise, reaching the highest levels since World War I. One explanation is that the success of newer penicillin treatments led soldiers to take syphilis and gonorrhea much less seriously. A similar casual attitude toward STDs appeared in the general American population; one historian states that condoms "were almost obsolete as prophylaxis by 1960". By 1947, the U.S. military was again promoting abstinence as the only method of disease control for its members, a policy that continued through the Vietnam War
.
But condom sales continued to grow. From 1955–1965, 42% of Americans of reproductive age relied on condoms for birth control. In Britain from 1950–1960, 60% of married couples used condoms. For the more economical-minded, cement-dipped condoms continued to be available long after the war. In 1957, Durex introduced the world's first lubricated condom. Beginning in the 1960s, the Japanese used more condoms per capita than any other nation in the world. The birth control pill became the world's most popular method of birth control in the years after its 1960 debut, but condoms remained a strong second. A survey of British women 1966–1970 found that the condom was the most popular birth control method with single women. New manufacturers appeared in the Soviet Union, which had never restricted condom sales. The U.S. Agency for International Development
pushed condom use in developing countries to help solve the "world population crises": by 1970 hundreds of millions of condoms were being used each year in India alone.
In the 1960s and 1970s quality regulations tightened, and legal barriers to condom use were removed. In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut
struck down one of the remaining Comstock laws, the bans of contraception in Connecticut and Massachusetts. France repealed its anti-birth control laws in 1967. Similar laws in Italy were declared unconstitutional in 1971. Captain Beate Uhse
in Germany founded a birth control business, and fought a series of legal battles continue her sales. In Ireland, legal condom sales (only to people over 18, and only in clinics and pharmacies) were allowed for the first time in 1978. (All restrictions on Irish condom sales were lifted in 1993.)
Advertising was one area that continued to have legal restrictions. In the late 1950s, the American National Association of Broadcasters
banned condom advertisements from national television. This policy remained in place until 1979, when the U.S. Justice department had it overturned in court. In the U.S., advertisements for condoms were mostly limited to men's magazines such as Penthouse
. The first television ad, on the California station KNTV
, aired in 1975: it was quickly pulled after it attracted national attention. And in over 30 states, advertising condoms as birth control devices was still illegal.
) was published on July 3, 1981. In 1982 it was first suggested that the disease was sexually transmitted. In response to these findings, and to fight the spread of AIDS, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop
supported condom promotion programs. However, President Ronald Reagan
preferred an approach of concentrating only on abstinence programs. Some opponents of condom programs stated that AIDS was a disease of homosexuals and illicit drug users, who were just getting what they deserved. In 1990 North Carolina senator Jesse Helms
argued that the best way to fight AIDS would be to enforce state sodomy laws.
Nevertheless, major advertising campaigns were put in print media, promoting condoms as a way to protect against AIDS. Youngs Rubber mailed educational pamphlets to American households, although the postal service forced them to go to court to do so, citing a section of Title 39 that "prohibits the mailing of unsolicited advertisements for contraceptives." In 1983 the U.S. Supreme Court held that the postal service's actions violated the free speech clause of the First Amendment
. Beginning in 1985 through 1987, national condom promotion campaigns occurred in U.S. and Europe. Over the 10 years of the Swiss campaign, Swiss condom use increased by 80%. The year after the British campaign began, condom sales in the UK increase by 20%. In 1988 Britain, condoms were the most popular birth control choice for married couples, for the first time since the introduction of the pill. The first condom
commercial on U.S. television aired during an episode of Herman's Head
on November 17, 1991. In the U.S. in the 1990s, condoms ranked third in popularity among married couples, and were a strong second among single women.
Condoms began to be sold in a wider variety of retail outlets, including in supermarkets and in discount department stores such as Wal-Mart
. In this environment of more open sales, the British euphemism of "a little something for the weekend" fell out of use. In June 1991 America's first condom store, Condomania, opened on Bleecker Street in New York City. Condomania was the first store of its kind in North America dedicated to the sale and promotion of condoms in an upbeat, upscale and fun atmosphere. Condomania was also one of the very first retailers to offer condoms online when it launched its website in December 1995.
Condom sales increased every year until 1994, when media attention to the AIDS pandemic began to decline. In response, manufacturers have changed the tone of their advertisements from scary to humorous. New developments continue to occur in the condom market, with the first polyurethane condom—branded Avanti and produced by the manufacturer of Durex—introduced in the 1990s. Durex was also the first condom brand to have a website, launched in 1997. Worldwide condom use is expected to continue to grow: one study predicted that developing nations would need 18.6 billion condoms in 2015. For the boom of the condom industry, it appears there is no end in sight.
, and this explanation persisted for several centuries. However, the "Dr. Condom" or "Earl of Condom" described in these stories never existed, and condoms had been used for over one hundred years before King Charles II ascended to the throne.
A variety of Latin etymologies have been proposed, including condon (receptacle), condamina (house), and cumdum (scabbard or case). It has also been speculated to be from the Italian word guantone, derived from guanto, meaning glove. William E. Kruck wrote an article in 1981 concluding that, "As for the word 'condom', I need state only that its origin remains completely unknown, and there ends this search for an etymology." Modern dictionaries may also list the etymology as "unknown".
Other terms are also commonly used to describe condoms. In North America condoms are also commonly known as prophylactics, or rubbers. In Britain they may be called French letters. Additionally, condoms may be referred to using the manufacturer's name.
In 1882, German immigrant Julius Schmidt founded one of the largest and longest-lasting condom businesses, Julius Schmid, Inc., based in New York City (he dropped the 't' from his name in an effort to appear less Jewish). The condom lines manufactured by Schmid included Shieks and Ramses. In 1932, the London Rubber Company (which had previously been a wholesale business importing German condoms) began to produce latex condoms, under the Durex brand. In 1962 Schmid was purchased by London Rubber. In 1987, London Rubber began acquiring other condom manufacturers, and within a few years became an important international company. In the late 1990s, London Rubber (by then London International Limited) merged all the Schmid brands into its European brand, Durex. Soon after, London International was purchased by Seton Scholl Healthcare (manufacturer of Dr. Scholl's footcare products), forming Seton Scholl Limited
.
Youngs Rubber Company, founded by Merle Youngs in late 19th century America, introduced the Trojan
line of condoms. In 1985, Youngs Rubber Company was sold to Carter-Wallace. The Trojan name switched hands yet again in 2000 when Carter-Wallace was sold to Church and Dwight
.
The Australian division of Dunlop Rubber
began manufacturing condoms in the 1890s. In 1905, Dunlop sold its condom-making equipment to one of its employees, Eric Ansell, who founded Ansell Rubber
. In 1969, Ansell was sold back to Dunlop. In 1987, English business magnate Richard Branson
contracted with Ansell to help in a campaign against HIV and AIDS. Ansell agreed to manufacture the Mates brand of condom, to be sold at little or no profit in order to encourage condom use. Branson soon sold the Mates brand to Ansell, with royalty payments made annually to the charity Virgin Unite
. In addition to its Mates brand, Ansell currently manufactures Lifestyles and Lifesan for the U.S. market.
In 1934 the Kokusia Rubber Company was founded in Japan. It is now known as the Okamoto Rubber Manufacturing Company.
In 1970 Tim Black and Philip Harvey
founded Population Planning Associates (now known as Adam & Eve
). Population Planning Associates was a mail-order business that marketed condoms to American college students, despite U.S. laws against sending contraceptives through the mail. Black and Harvey used the profits from their company to start a non-profit organization Population Services International
. By 1975, PSI was marketing condoms in Kenya and Bangladesh, and today operates programs in over sixty countries. Harvey left his position as PSI's director in the late 1970s, but in the late 1980s again founded a nonprofit company, DKT International
. Named after D.K. Tyagi
(a leader of family planning
programs in India), DKT International annually sells millions of condoms at discounted rates in developing countries around the world. By selling the condoms instead of giving them away, DKT intends to make its customers invested in using the devices. One of DKT's more notable programs is its work in Ethiopia, where soldiers are required to carry a condom every time they leave base. The rate of HIV infection in the Ethiopian military, about 5%, is believed to be the lowest among African militaries.
In 1987, Tufts University students Davin Wedel and Adam Glickman started Global Protection Corp. in response to C. Everett Koop's statement that "a condoms can save your life." Since that time, Global Protection Corp. has become known for its innovative approach to condom marketing and its support of more than 3500 non-profit organizations worldwide. The company has numerous patents and trademarks to its name, including the only FDA-approved glow-in-the-dark condom, the Pleasure Plus condom and the original condom keychain. In 2005 the company introduced its newest product, One Condoms. One represents a complete reinvention of retail condom brands, combining sleek metal packaging, innovative condom wrappers and innovative marketing programs. One is also the first condom brand to donate 5% of sales to the development of sexual health outreach and educational programs.
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
s have been used both as a method of birth control
Birth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
, and as a protective measure against sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
s. Condoms have been made from a variety of materials; prior to the 19th century, chemically treated linen and animal tissue (intestine or bladder) are the best documented varieties. Rubber condoms gained popularity in the mid-19th century, and in the early 20th century major advances were made in manufacturing techniques. Prior to the introduction of the combined oral contraceptive pill, condoms were the most popular birth control method in the Western world. In the second half of the 20th century, the low cost of condoms contributed to their importance in family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
programs throughout the developing world. Condoms have also become increasingly important in efforts to fight the AIDS pandemic
AIDS pandemic
The acquired immune deficiency syndrome pandemic is a widespread disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus .Since AIDS was first recognized in 1981, it has led to the deaths of more than 25 million people, making it one of the most destructive diseases in recorded history.Despite recent...
.
Antiquity to the Middle Ages
Whether condoms were used in ancient civilizations is debated by archaeologists and historians. The oldest claimed representation of condom use is a painting in the French cave Grotte des Combarrelles; the paintings in this cave are 12,000–15,000 years old. Societies in the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome methods. However, these societies viewed birth controlBirth control
Birth control is an umbrella term for several techniques and methods used to prevent fertilization or to interrupt pregnancy at various stages. Birth control techniques and methods include contraception , contragestion and abortion...
as a woman's responsibility, and the only well-documented contraception methods were female-controlled devices (both possibly effective, such as pessaries
Pessary
A pessary is a small plastic or silicone medical device which is inserted into the vagina or rectum and held in place by the pelvic floor musculature. - Therapeutic pessaries :...
, and ineffective, such as amulet
Amulet
An amulet, similar to a talisman , is any object intended to bring good luck or protection to its owner.Potential amulets include gems, especially engraved gems, statues, coins, drawings, pendants, rings, plants and animals; even words said in certain occasions—for example: vade retro satana—, to...
s). The writings of these societies contain "veiled references" to male-controlled contraceptive methods that might have been condoms, but most historians interpret them as referring to coitus interruptus
Coitus interruptus
Coitus interruptus, also known as the rejected sexual intercourse, withdrawal or pull-out method, is a method of birth-control in which a man, during intercourse withdraws his penis from a woman's vagina prior to ejaculation...
or anal sex
Anal sex
Anal sex is the sex act in which the penis is inserted into the anus of a sexual partner. The term can also include other sexual acts involving the anus, including pegging, anilingus , fingering, and object insertion.Common misconception describes anal sex as practiced almost exclusively by gay men...
.
The loincloth
Loincloth
A loincloth is a one-piece male garment, sometimes kept in place by a belt, which covers the genitals and, at least partially, the buttocks.-History and types:Loincloths are being and have been worn:*in societies where no other clothing is needed or wanted...
s worn by Egyptian and Greek laborers were very spare, sometimes consisting of little more than a covering for the glans of the penis. Records of these types of loincloths being worn by men in higher classes have made some historians speculate they were worn during intercourse; others, however, are doubtful of such interpretations. Historians may also cite one legend of Minos
Minos
In Greek mythology, Minos was a king of Crete, son of Zeus and Europa. Every year he made King Aegeus pick seven men and seven women to go to Daedalus' creation, the labyrinth, to be eaten by The Minotaur. After his death, Minos became a judge of the dead in Hades. The Minoan civilization of Crete...
, related by Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300.His only surviving work is the Metamorphoses, , a collection of forty-one very briefly summarised tales about mythical metamorphoses effected by offended deities, unique in that they are...
in 150
150
Year 150 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Squilla and Vetus...
AD, as suggestive of condom use in ancient societies. This legend describes a curse that caused Minos' semen to contain serpents and scorpions. To protect his sexual partner from these animals, Minos used a goat's bladder as a female condom.
Contraceptives fell out of use in Europe after the decline of the Roman Empire
Decline of the Roman Empire
The decline of the Roman Empire refers to the gradual societal collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Many theories of causality prevail, but most concern the disintegration of political, economic, military, and other social institutions, in tandem with foreign invasions and usurpers from within the...
in the 5th century; the use of contraceptive pessaries, for example, is not documented again until the 15th century. If condoms were used during the Roman Empire, knowledge of them may have been lost during its decline. A contributing factor to the loss of contraceptive knowledge was the rise of Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, which considers all forms of birth control to be sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
s. In the writings of Muslims and Jews during the Middle Ages, there are some references to attempts at male-controlled contraception, including suggestions to cover the penis in tar or soak it in onion juice. Some of these writings might describe condom use, but they are "oblique", "veiled", and "vague".
Renaissance
The first well-documented outbreak of what is now known as syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
occurred in 1494 among French troops. The disease then swept across Europe. As Jared Diamond
Jared Diamond
Jared Mason Diamond is an American scientist and author whose work draws from a variety of fields. He is currently Professor of Geography and Physiology at UCLA...
describes it, "when syphilis was first definitely recorded in Europe in 1495, its pustules often covered the body from the head to the knees, caused flesh to fall from people's faces, and led to death within a few months." (The disease is less frequently fatal today.) By 1505, the disease had spread to Asia, and within a few decades had "decimated large areas of China".
In 16th century Italy, Gabriele Falloppio
Gabriele Falloppio
Gabriele Falloppio , often known by his Latin name Fallopius, was one of the most important anatomists and physicians of the sixteenth century....
authored the earliest uncontested description of condom use. De Morbo Gallico ("The French Disease", referring to syphilis) was published in 1564, two years after Fallopio's death. In this tract, he recommended use of a device he claimed to have invented: linen sheaths soaked in a chemical solution and allowed to dry before use. The cloths he described were sized to cover the glans
Glans penis
The glans penis is the sensitive bulbous structure at the distal end of the penis. The glans penis is anatomically homologous to the clitoral glans of the female...
of the penis, and were held on with a ribbon. Fallopio claimed to have performed an experimental trial of the linen sheath on 1100 men, and reported that none of them had contracted the dreaded disease.
After the publication of De Morbo Gallico, use of penis coverings to protect from disease is described in a wide variety of literature throughout Europe. The first indication these devices were used for birth control, rather than disease prevention, is the 1605 theological publication De iustitia et iure (On justice and law) by Catholic theologian Leonardus Lessius
Leonardus Lessius
Leonardus Lessius was a Jesuit moral theologian and a pioneer in business ethics.-Life:...
: he condemned them as immoral. The first explicit description that un petit linge (a small cloth) was used to prevent pregnancy is from 1655: a French novel and play titled L'Escole des Filles (The Philosophy of Girls). In 1666, the English Birth Rate Commission attributed a recent downward fertility rate to use of "condons", the first documented use of that word (or any similar spelling).
In addition to linen, condoms during the Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
were made out of intestines and bladder. Cleaned and prepared intestine for use in glove making had been sold commercially since at least the 13th century. Condoms made from bladder and dating to the 1640s were discovered in an English privy; it is believed they were used by soldiers of King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. Dutch traders introduced condoms made from "fine leather" to Japan. Unlike the horn condoms used previously, these leather condoms covered the entire penis.
18th century
Written references to condom use became much more common during the 18th century. Not all of the attention was positive: in 1708, John CampbellJohn Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll
Field Marshal John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, 1st Duke of Greenwich KG , known as Iain Ruaidh nan Cath or Red John of the Battles, was a Scottish soldier and nobleman.-Early Life:...
asked Parliament (unsuccessfully) to make the devices illegal. Noted English physician Daniel Turner condemned the condom, publishing his arguments against their use in 1717. He disliked condoms because they did not offer full protection against syphilis. He also seems to have argued that belief in the protection condoms offered encouraged men to engage sex with unsafe partners - but then, because of the loss of sensation caused by condoms, these same men often neglected to actually use the devices. The French medical professor Jean Astruc
Jean Astruc
Jean Astruc was a professor of medicine at Montpellier and Paris, who wrote the first great treatise on syphilis and venereal diseases, and also, with a small anonymously published book, played a fundamental part in the origins of critical textual analysis of works of scripture...
wrote his own anti-condom treatise in 1736, citing Turner as the authority in this area. Physicians later in the 18th century also spoke against the condom, but not on medical grounds: rather, they expressed the belief that contraception was immoral.
The condom market grew rapidly, however. 18th century condoms were available in a variety of qualities and sizes, made from either linen treated with chemicals, or "skin" (bladder or intestine softened by treatment with sulphur and lye
Lye
Lye is a corrosive alkaline substance, commonly sodium hydroxide or historically potassium hydroxide . Previously, lye was among the many different alkalis leached from hardwood ashes...
). They were sold at pubs, barbershops, chemist shops, open-air markets, and at the theater throughout Europe and Russia. The first recorded inspection of condom quality is found in the memoirs of Giacomo Casanova
Histoire de ma vie
Histoire de ma vie is both the memoir and autobiography of Giacomo Casanova, a famous 18th century Italian adventurer...
(which cover his life until 1774): to test for holes, he would often blow them up before use.
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
. Also around 1800, linen condoms lost popularity in the market and their production ceased: they were more expensive and were viewed as less comfortable when compared to skin condoms.
Up to the 19th century, condoms were generally used only by the middle and upper classes. One reason for the lack of condom use was that the working classes tended to lack education on the dangers of sexually transmitted infections. Perhaps more importantly, condoms were unaffordable for many: for a typical prostitute, a single condom might cost several months' pay.
Expanded marketing and introduction of rubber
The early 19th century saw contraceptives promoted to the poorer classes for the first time: birth control advocates in England included Jeremy BenthamJeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
and Richard Carlile
Richard Carlile
Richard Carlile was an important agitator for the establishment of universal suffrage and freedom of the press in the United Kingdom.-Early life :...
, and noted American advocates included Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen
Robert Dale Owen was a longtime exponent in his adopted United States of the socialist doctrines of his father, Robert Owen, as well as a politician in the Democratic Party.-Biography:...
and Charles Knowlton
Charles Knowlton
Charles Knowlton was an American physician, atheist and writer.-Education:Knowlton was born May 10, 1800 in Templeton, Massachusetts. His parents were Stephen and Comfort Knowlton; his grandfather Ezekiel Knowlton, who was a Captain in the revolution and a longtime state legislator...
. Writers on contraception tended to prefer other methods of birth control, citing both the expense of condoms and their unreliability (they were often riddled with holes, and often fell off or broke), but they discussed condoms as a good option for some, and as the only contraceptive that also protected from disease. One group of British contraceptive advocates distributed condom literature in poor neighborhoods, with instructions on how to make the devices at home; in the 1840s, similar tracts were distributed in both cities and rural areas through the United States.
From the 1820s through the 1870s, popular women and men lecturers traveled around America teaching about physiology and sexual matters. Many of them sold birth control devices, including condoms, after their lectures. They were condemned by many moralists and medical professionals, including America's first woman doctor Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Blackwell was the first female doctor in the United States and the first on the UK Medical Register...
. Blackwell accused the lecturers of spreading doctrines of "abortion and prostitution". In the 1840s, advertisements for condoms began to appear in British newspapers, and in 1861 a condom advertisement appeared in the New York Times.
The rubber vulcanization process was invented by Charles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear
Charles Goodyear was an American inventor who developed a process to vulcanize rubber in 1839 -- a method that he perfected while living and working in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1844, and for which he received patent number 3633 from the United States Patent Office on June 15, 1844Although...
in 1839, and patented in 1844. The first rubber condom was produced in 1855, and by the late 1850s several major rubber companies were mass producing, among other items, rubber condoms. A main advantage of rubber condoms was their reusability, making them a more economical choice in the long term. Compared to the 19th century rubber condoms, however, skin condoms were initially cheaper and offered better sensitivity. For these reasons, skin condoms remained more popular than the rubber variety. However, by the end of the 19th century "rubber" had become a euphemism for condoms in countries around the world. For many decades, rubber condoms were manufactured by wrapping strips of raw rubber around penis-shaped molds, then dipping the wrapped molds in a chemical solution to cure the rubber. The earliest rubber condoms covered only the glans of the penis; a doctor had to measure each man and order the correct size. Even with the medical fittings, however, glans condoms tended to fall off during use. Rubber manufacturers quickly discovered they could sell more devices by manufacturing full-length one-size-fits-all condoms to be sold in pharmacies.
Increased popularity despite legal impediments
Distribution of condoms in the United States was limited by passage of the Comstock laws, which included a federal act banning the mailing of contraceptive information (passed in 1873) as well as State laws that banned the manufacture and sale of condoms in thirty states. In IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
the 1889 Indecent Advertisements Act made it illegal to advertise condoms, although their manufacture and sale remained legal. Contraceptives were illegal in 19th century Italy and Germany, but condoms were allowed for disease prevention. Despite legal obstacles, condoms continued to be readily available in both Europe and America, widely advertised under euphemisms such as male shield and rubber good. In late 19th century England, condoms were known as "a little something for the weekend". Only in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
were condoms effectively outlawed. There, their sale and manufacture remained illegal until the 1970s.
Opposition to condoms did not only come from moralists: by the late 19th century the feminist movement in both Europe and America was decidedly anti-condom. Feminists wanted birth control to be exclusively in the hands of women, and disapproved of male-controlled methods such as the condom. Despite social and legal opposition, at the end of the 19th century the condom was the Western world's most popular birth control method. Two surveys conducted in New York in 1890 and 1900 found that 45% of the women surveyed were using condoms to prevent pregnancy. A survey in Boston just prior to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
concluded that three million condoms were sold in that city every year.
1870s England saw the founding of the first major condom manufacturing company, E. Lambert and Son of Dalston. In 1882, German immigrant Julius Schmidt founded one of the largest and longest-lasting condom businesses, Julius Schmid, Inc. (he dropped the 't' from his name in an effort to appear less Jewish). This New York business initially manufactured only skin condoms (in 1890 he was arrested by Anthony Comstock
Anthony Comstock
Anthony Comstock was a United States Postal Inspector and politician dedicated to ideas of Victorian morality.-Biography:...
for having almost seven hundred of the devices in his house). In 1912, a German named Julius Fromm
Julius Fromm
Julius Fromm was a Polish-Jewish entrepreneur, chemist, and inventor of a process for making condoms from liquified rubber.-Biography:...
developed a new, improved manufacturing technique for condoms: dipping glass molds into a raw rubber solution. Called cement dipping, this method required adding gasoline or benzene to the rubber to make it liquid. In America, Schmid was the first company to use the new technique. Using the new dipping method, French condom manufacturers were the first to add textures to condoms. Fromm was the first company to sell a branded line of condoms, Fromm's Act, which remains popular Germany today. The condom lines manufactured by Schmid, Shieks and Ramses, were sold through the late 1990s. Youngs Rubber Company, founded by Merle Youngs in late 19th century America, introduced Trojans.
Beginning in the second half of the 19th century, American rates of sexually transmitted diseases skyrocketed. Causes cited by historians include effects of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, and the ignorance of prevention methods promoted by the Comstock laws. To fight the growing epidemic, sexual education classes were introduced to public schools for the first time, teaching about venereal diseases and how they were transmitted. They generally taught that abstinence was the only way to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. Condoms were not promoted for disease prevention; the medical community and moral watchdogs considered STDs to be punishment for sexual misbehavior. The stigma on victims of these diseases was so great that many hospitals refused to treat people who had syphilis.
World War I to the 1920s
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the United States and (at the beginning of the war only) Britain were the only countries with soldiers in Europe who did not provide condoms and promote their use. By the end of the war, the American military had diagnosed almost 400,000 cases of syphilis and gonorrhea
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The usual symptoms in men are burning with urination and penile discharge. Women, on the other hand, are asymptomatic half the time or have vaginal discharge and pelvic pain...
, a historic high.
From just before 1900 to the beginning of World War I, almost all condoms used in Europe were imported from Germany. Germany not only exported condoms to other European countries, but was a major supplier to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. During the war, the American companies Schmid and Youngs became the main suppliers of condoms to the European Allies
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
. By the early 1920s, however, most of Europe's condoms were once again made in Germany.
In 1918, just before the end of the war, an American court overturned a conviction against Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Higgins Sanger was an American sex educator, nurse, and birth control activist. Sanger coined the term birth control, opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, and established Planned Parenthood...
. In this case, the judge ruled that condoms could be legally advertised and sold for the prevention of disease. There were still a few state laws against buying and selling contraceptives, and advertising condoms as birth control devices remained illegal in over thirty states. But condoms began to be publicly, legally sold to Americans for the first time in forty-five years. Through the 1920s, catchy names and slick packaging became an increasingly important marketing technique for many consumer items, including condoms and cigarettes. Quality testing became more common, involving filling each condom with air followed by one of several methods intended to detect loss of pressure. Several American companies sold their rejects under cheaper brand names rather than discarding them. Consumers were advised to perform similar tests themselves before use, although few actually did so. Worldwide, condoms sales doubled in the 1920s.
Still, there were many prominent opponents of condoms. Founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
opposed all methods of birth control on the grounds that their failure rates were too high. Freud was especially opposed to the condom because it cut down on sexual pleasure. Some feminists continued to oppose male-controlled contraceptives such as condoms. Many moralists and medical professionals opposed all methods of contraception. In 1920 the Church of England's Lambeth Conference condemned all "unnatural means of conception avoidance." London's Bishop Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Winnington-Ingram
Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram KCVO PC was Bishop of London from 1901 to 1939.-Early life and career:He was born in Worcestershire, the fourth son of the Revd Edward Winnington-Ingram and of Louisa...
complained of the huge number of condoms discarded in alleyways and parks, especially after weekends and holidays.
In the U.S., condom advertising was legally restricted to their use as disease preventatives. They could be openly marketed as birth control devices in Britain, but purchasing condoms in Britain was socially awkward compared to the U.S. They were generally requested with the euphemism "a little something for the weekend." Boots, the largest pharmacy chain in Britain, stopped selling condoms altogether in the 1920s, a policy that was not reversed until the 1960s. In post-World War I France, the government was concerned about falling birth rates. In response, it outlawed all contraceptives, including condoms. Contraception was also illegal in Spain. European militaries continued to provide condoms to their members for disease protection, even in countries where they were illegal for the general population.
Invention of latex and manufacturing automation
Latex, rubber suspended in water, was invented in 1920. Youngs Rubber Company was the first to manufacture a latex condom, an improved version of their Trojan brand. Latex condoms required less labor to produce than cement-dipped rubber condoms, which had to be smoothed by rubbing and trimming. Because it used water to suspend the rubber instead of gasolene and benzene, it eliminated the fire hazard previously associated with all condom factories. Latex condoms also performed better for the consumer: they were stronger and thinner than rubber condoms, and had a shelf life of five years (compared to three months for rubber). Europe's first latex condom was an export from Youngs Rubber Company in 1929. In 1932 the London Rubber Company, which had previously served as a wholesaler for German-manufactured condoms, became Europe's first manufacturer of latex condoms, the Durex.Until the twenties, all condoms were individually hand-dipped by semiskilled workers. Throughout the decade of the 1920s, advances in automation of condom assembly line were made. Fred Killian patented the first fully automated line in 1930 and installed it in his manufacturing plant in Akron, Ohio. Killian charged $20,000 for his conveyor system - as much as $2 million in today's dollars. Automated lines dramatically lowered the price of condoms. Major condom manufacturers bought or leased conveyor systems, and small manufacturers were driven out of business. The skin condom, now significantly more expensive than the latex variety, became restricted to a niche high-end market.
Great Depression
In 1927, senior medical officers in the American military began promoting condom distribution and educational programs to members of the army and navy. By 1931, condoms were standard issue to all members of the U.S. military. This coincided with a steep decline in U.S. military cases of sexually transmitted disease. The U.S. military was not the only large organization that changed its moral stance on condoms: in 1930 the Anglican Church's Lambeth Conference sanctioned the use of birth control by married couples. In 1931 the Federal Council of ChurchesNational Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
in the U.S. issued a similar statement.
The Roman Catholic Church responded by issuing the encyclical Casti Connubii
Casti Connubii
Castī Connūbiī was a papal encyclical promulgated by Pope Pius XI on December 31, 1930 in response to the Lambeth Conference of the Anglican church. It stressed the sanctity of marriage, prohibited Catholics from using any form of artificial birth control, and reaffirmed the prohibition on abortion...
affirming its opposition to all contraceptives, a stance it has never reversed. Semen analysis
Semen analysis
A semen analysis evaluates certain characteristics of a male's semen and the sperm contained in the semen. It may be done while investigating a couple's infertility or after a vasectomy to verify that the procedure was successful. It is also used for testing donors for sperm donation, in stud...
was first performed in the 1930s. Samples were typically collected by masturbation, another action opposed by the Catholic Church. In 1930s Spain, the first use of collection condoms was documented; holes put in the condom allowed the user to collect a sample without violating the prohibitions on contraception and masturbation.
In 1932, Margaret Sanger arranged for a shipment of diaphragms
Diaphragm (contraceptive)
The diaphragm is a cervical barrier type of birth control. It is a soft latex or silicone dome with a spring molded into the rim. The spring creates a seal against the walls of the vagina.-Use:...
to be mailed from Japan to a sympathetic doctor in New York City. When U.S. customs confiscated the package as illegal contraceptive devices, Sanger helped file a lawsuit. In 1936, a federal appeals court ruled in United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries
United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries
United States v. One Package of Japanese Pessaries, 86 F.2d 737 , was an in rem United States Court of Appeals case in the Second Circuit involving birth control.-Background:...
that the federal government could not interfere with doctors providing contraception to their patients. In 1938, over three hundred birth control clinics opened in America, supplying reproductive care (including condoms) to poor women all over the country. Programs led by U.S. Surgeon General
Surgeon General of the United States
The Surgeon General of the United States is the operational head of the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and thus the leading spokesperson on matters of public health in the federal government...
Thoman Parran included heavy promotion of condoms. These programs are credited with a steep drop in the U.S. STD rate by 1940.
Two of the few places where condoms became more restricted during this period were Fascist Italy
Italian Fascism
Italian Fascism also known as Fascism with a capital "F" refers to the original fascist ideology in Italy. This ideology is associated with the National Fascist Party which under Benito Mussolini ruled the Kingdom of Italy from 1922 until 1943, the Republican Fascist Party which ruled the Italian...
and Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Because of government concern about low birth rates, contraceptives were made illegal in Italy in the late 1920s. Although limited and highly controlled sales as disease preventatives were still allowed, there was a brisk black market trade in condoms as birth control. In Germany, laws passed in 1933 mandated that condoms could only be sold in plain brown wrappers, and only at pharmacies. Despite these restrictions, when World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began Germans were using 72 million condoms every year. The elimination of moral and legal barriers, and the introduction of condom programs by the U.S. government helped condom sales. However, these factors alone are not considered to explain the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
's booming condom industry. In the U.S. alone, more than 1.5 million condoms were used every day during the Depression, at a cost of over $33 million per year (not adjusted for inflation). One historian explains these statistics this way: "Condoms were cheaper than children." During the Depression was that condom lines by Schmid gained in popularity: that company still used the cement-dipping method of manufacture. Unlike the latex variety, these condoms could be safely used with oil-based lubricants. And while less comfortable, older-style rubber condoms could be reused and so were more economical, a valued feature in hard times.
More attention was brought to quality issues in the 1930s. In 1935, a biochemist tested 2000 condoms by filling each one with air and then water: he found that 60% of them leaked. The condom industry estimated that only 25% of condoms were tested for quality before packaging. The media attention led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
to classify condoms as a drug in 1937 and mandate that every condom be tested before packaging. Youngs Rubber Company was the first to institute quality testing of every condom they made, installing automatic testing equipment designed by Arthur Youngs (the owner's brother) in 1938. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act , is a set of laws passed by Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to oversee the safety of food, drugs, and cosmetics. A principal author of this law was Royal S. Copeland, a three-term U.S. Senator from...
authorized the FDA to seize defective products; the first month the Act took effect in 1940, the FDA seized 864,000 condoms. While these actions improved the quality of condoms in the United States, American condom manufacturers continued to export their rejects for sale in foreign markets.
World War II to 1980
During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
condoms were not only distributed to male U.S. military members, but their use was heavily promoted with films, posters, and lectures. A number of slogans were coined by the military, with one film exhorting "Don't forget — put it on before you put it in." African-American soldiers served in segregated units. They were exposed to less of the condom promotion programs, had lower rates of condom usage, and much higher rates of STDs. America's female military units, the WACs and WAACs, were still subject to abstinence programs. European and Asian militaries on both sides of the conflict also provided condoms to their troops throughout the war, even Germany which outlawed all civilian use of condoms in 1941. Despite the rubber shortages that occurred during this period, condom manufacturing was never restricted. In part because condoms were readily available, soldiers found a number of non-sexual uses for the devices, many of which continue to be utilized to this day.
Post-war American troops in Germany continued to receive condoms and materials promoting their use. Nevertheless, rates of STDs in this population began to rise, reaching the highest levels since World War I. One explanation is that the success of newer penicillin treatments led soldiers to take syphilis and gonorrhea much less seriously. A similar casual attitude toward STDs appeared in the general American population; one historian states that condoms "were almost obsolete as prophylaxis by 1960". By 1947, the U.S. military was again promoting abstinence as the only method of disease control for its members, a policy that continued through the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
.
But condom sales continued to grow. From 1955–1965, 42% of Americans of reproductive age relied on condoms for birth control. In Britain from 1950–1960, 60% of married couples used condoms. For the more economical-minded, cement-dipped condoms continued to be available long after the war. In 1957, Durex introduced the world's first lubricated condom. Beginning in the 1960s, the Japanese used more condoms per capita than any other nation in the world. The birth control pill became the world's most popular method of birth control in the years after its 1960 debut, but condoms remained a strong second. A survey of British women 1966–1970 found that the condom was the most popular birth control method with single women. New manufacturers appeared in the Soviet Union, which had never restricted condom sales. The U.S. Agency for International Development
United States Agency for International Development
The United States Agency for International Development is the United States federal government agency primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid. President John F. Kennedy created USAID in 1961 by executive order to implement development assistance programs in the areas...
pushed condom use in developing countries to help solve the "world population crises": by 1970 hundreds of millions of condoms were being used each year in India alone.
In the 1960s and 1970s quality regulations tightened, and legal barriers to condom use were removed. In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court case Griswold v. Connecticut
Griswold v. Connecticut
Griswold v. Connecticut, , was a landmark case in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Constitution protected a right to privacy. The case involved a Connecticut law that prohibited the use of contraceptives...
struck down one of the remaining Comstock laws, the bans of contraception in Connecticut and Massachusetts. France repealed its anti-birth control laws in 1967. Similar laws in Italy were declared unconstitutional in 1971. Captain Beate Uhse
Beate Uhse-Rotermund
Beate Uhse-Rotermund was a German pilot and entrepreneur. The only female stunt pilot in Germany in the 1930s, after World War II she started the first sex shop in the world. The company she started, Beate Uhse AG, is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, and is the world leader in sales of...
in Germany founded a birth control business, and fought a series of legal battles continue her sales. In Ireland, legal condom sales (only to people over 18, and only in clinics and pharmacies) were allowed for the first time in 1978. (All restrictions on Irish condom sales were lifted in 1993.)
Advertising was one area that continued to have legal restrictions. In the late 1950s, the American National Association of Broadcasters
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
banned condom advertisements from national television. This policy remained in place until 1979, when the U.S. Justice department had it overturned in court. In the U.S., advertisements for condoms were mostly limited to men's magazines such as Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
. The first television ad, on the California station KNTV
KNTV
KNTV, channel 11, is the NBC owned-and-operated television station in the Bay Area market. It is licensed to San Jose, with its transmitter located on San Bruno Mountain, just south of San Francisco. It shares facilities in San Jose with NBC Universal sister station KSTS and CNBC's Silicon...
, aired in 1975: it was quickly pulled after it attracted national attention. And in over 30 states, advertising condoms as birth control devices was still illegal.
After the discovery of AIDS
The first New York Times story on acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
) was published on July 3, 1981. In 1982 it was first suggested that the disease was sexually transmitted. In response to these findings, and to fight the spread of AIDS, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop
C. Everett Koop
Charles Everett Koop, MD is an American pediatric surgeon and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and served as thirteenth Surgeon General of the United States under President Ronald Reagan from 1982 to 1989.-Early years:Koop was born...
supported condom promotion programs. However, President Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
preferred an approach of concentrating only on abstinence programs. Some opponents of condom programs stated that AIDS was a disease of homosexuals and illicit drug users, who were just getting what they deserved. In 1990 North Carolina senator Jesse Helms
Jesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms, Jr. was a five-term Republican United States Senator from North Carolina who served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001...
argued that the best way to fight AIDS would be to enforce state sodomy laws.
Nevertheless, major advertising campaigns were put in print media, promoting condoms as a way to protect against AIDS. Youngs Rubber mailed educational pamphlets to American households, although the postal service forced them to go to court to do so, citing a section of Title 39 that "prohibits the mailing of unsolicited advertisements for contraceptives." In 1983 the U.S. Supreme Court held that the postal service's actions violated the free speech clause of the First Amendment
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
. Beginning in 1985 through 1987, national condom promotion campaigns occurred in U.S. and Europe. Over the 10 years of the Swiss campaign, Swiss condom use increased by 80%. The year after the British campaign began, condom sales in the UK increase by 20%. In 1988 Britain, condoms were the most popular birth control choice for married couples, for the first time since the introduction of the pill. The first condom
Condom
A condom is a barrier device most commonly used during sexual intercourse to reduce the probability of pregnancy and spreading sexually transmitted diseases . It is put on a man's erect penis and physically blocks ejaculated semen from entering the body of a sexual partner...
commercial on U.S. television aired during an episode of Herman's Head
Herman's Head
Herman's Head is an American sitcom that aired on the Fox network from 1991 to 1994. The series stars William Ragsdale as the titular character, Herman Brooks.-Synopsis:...
on November 17, 1991. In the U.S. in the 1990s, condoms ranked third in popularity among married couples, and were a strong second among single women.
Condoms began to be sold in a wider variety of retail outlets, including in supermarkets and in discount department stores such as Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
. In this environment of more open sales, the British euphemism of "a little something for the weekend" fell out of use. In June 1991 America's first condom store, Condomania, opened on Bleecker Street in New York City. Condomania was the first store of its kind in North America dedicated to the sale and promotion of condoms in an upbeat, upscale and fun atmosphere. Condomania was also one of the very first retailers to offer condoms online when it launched its website in December 1995.
Condom sales increased every year until 1994, when media attention to the AIDS pandemic began to decline. In response, manufacturers have changed the tone of their advertisements from scary to humorous. New developments continue to occur in the condom market, with the first polyurethane condom—branded Avanti and produced by the manufacturer of Durex—introduced in the 1990s. Durex was also the first condom brand to have a website, launched in 1997. Worldwide condom use is expected to continue to grow: one study predicted that developing nations would need 18.6 billion condoms in 2015. For the boom of the condom industry, it appears there is no end in sight.
Etymology and other terms
Etymological theories for the word "condom" abound. By the early 18th century, the invention and naming of the condom was attributed to an associate of England's King Charles IICharles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
, and this explanation persisted for several centuries. However, the "Dr. Condom" or "Earl of Condom" described in these stories never existed, and condoms had been used for over one hundred years before King Charles II ascended to the throne.
A variety of Latin etymologies have been proposed, including condon (receptacle), condamina (house), and cumdum (scabbard or case). It has also been speculated to be from the Italian word guantone, derived from guanto, meaning glove. William E. Kruck wrote an article in 1981 concluding that, "As for the word 'condom', I need state only that its origin remains completely unknown, and there ends this search for an etymology." Modern dictionaries may also list the etymology as "unknown".
Other terms are also commonly used to describe condoms. In North America condoms are also commonly known as prophylactics, or rubbers. In Britain they may be called French letters. Additionally, condoms may be referred to using the manufacturer's name.
Major manufacturers
One analyst described the size of the condom market as something that "boggles the mind". Numerous small manufacturers, nonprofit groups, and government-run manufacturing plants exist around the world. Within the condom market, there are several major contributors, among them both for-profit businesses and philanthropic organizations.In 1882, German immigrant Julius Schmidt founded one of the largest and longest-lasting condom businesses, Julius Schmid, Inc., based in New York City (he dropped the 't' from his name in an effort to appear less Jewish). The condom lines manufactured by Schmid included Shieks and Ramses. In 1932, the London Rubber Company (which had previously been a wholesale business importing German condoms) began to produce latex condoms, under the Durex brand. In 1962 Schmid was purchased by London Rubber. In 1987, London Rubber began acquiring other condom manufacturers, and within a few years became an important international company. In the late 1990s, London Rubber (by then London International Limited) merged all the Schmid brands into its European brand, Durex. Soon after, London International was purchased by Seton Scholl Healthcare (manufacturer of Dr. Scholl's footcare products), forming Seton Scholl Limited
SSL International
SSL International plc was a British manufacturer of healthcare products. Its best known brands were Durex and Scholl; other significant brands were Sauber and Mister Baby. The company's name was an abbreviation of Seton Scholl London International, its predecessor businesses. Since November 2010,...
.
Youngs Rubber Company, founded by Merle Youngs in late 19th century America, introduced the Trojan
Trojan (condoms)
Trojan is a brand name of condoms manufactured by the Church & Dwight Company. 70.5 percent of condoms purchased in United States drugstores are Trojan brand. Trojan began selling condoms in 1927 through an ad placed in a trade magazine for pharmacists....
line of condoms. In 1985, Youngs Rubber Company was sold to Carter-Wallace. The Trojan name switched hands yet again in 2000 when Carter-Wallace was sold to Church and Dwight
Church and Dwight
Church & Dwight Co., Inc. is a minor U.S. manufacturer of household products that is based in Princeton, New Jersey. While it manufactures many items, it is by far best known for its Arm & Hammer line which includes baking soda and many other items made with it. The company was founded in 1896 to...
.
The Australian division of Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber
Dunlop Rubber was a company based in the United Kingdom which manufactured tyres and other rubber products for most of the 20th century. It was acquired by BTR plc in 1985. Since then, ownership of the Dunlop trade-names has been fragmented.-Early history:...
began manufacturing condoms in the 1890s. In 1905, Dunlop sold its condom-making equipment to one of its employees, Eric Ansell, who founded Ansell Rubber
Ansell Limited
Ansell Limited is an international manufacturer of protective and medical gloves and condoms. Ansell was founded in Australia in 1929 by by Eric Norman Ansell who was at the time a worker for Dunlop Pneumatic Tyre Company of Australasia. Originally Ansell was known as E. N. Ansell & Sons but...
. In 1969, Ansell was sold back to Dunlop. In 1987, English business magnate Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....
contracted with Ansell to help in a campaign against HIV and AIDS. Ansell agreed to manufacture the Mates brand of condom, to be sold at little or no profit in order to encourage condom use. Branson soon sold the Mates brand to Ansell, with royalty payments made annually to the charity Virgin Unite
Virgin Unite
Virgin Unite is the working name of The Virgin Foundation, the independent charitable arm of the Virgin Group. Created by Richard Branson and Virgin employees in September 2004, Virgin Unite pools volunteering efforts from across the Virgin Group and its hundreds of subsidiaries and associated...
. In addition to its Mates brand, Ansell currently manufactures Lifestyles and Lifesan for the U.S. market.
In 1934 the Kokusia Rubber Company was founded in Japan. It is now known as the Okamoto Rubber Manufacturing Company.
In 1970 Tim Black and Philip Harvey
Phil Harvey
Phil Harvey is an American entrepreneur, philanthropist and libertarian who over the past 30 years has set up large-scale programs that deliver subsidized contraceptives in poor countries. Harvey is the president of DKT International, the Washington, D.C.-based charity that implements family...
founded Population Planning Associates (now known as Adam & Eve
Adam & Eve (business)
Adam & Eve is a marketer of adult products that sells sex toys and produces pornographic films, as well as funding non-profit social marketing organizations that address issues such as population growth, disease control and sex education in developing countries. In 2006 it was described by Reuters...
). Population Planning Associates was a mail-order business that marketed condoms to American college students, despite U.S. laws against sending contraceptives through the mail. Black and Harvey used the profits from their company to start a non-profit organization Population Services International
Population Services International
Population Services International is a global health organization with programs targeting malaria, child survival, HIV and reproductive health...
. By 1975, PSI was marketing condoms in Kenya and Bangladesh, and today operates programs in over sixty countries. Harvey left his position as PSI's director in the late 1970s, but in the late 1980s again founded a nonprofit company, DKT International
DKT International
DKT International is a charitable non-profit organization that promotes family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention through social marketing. The Washington, D.C.-based DKT was founded in 1989 by Phil Harvey and operates in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Much of its revenue comes from its sales of...
. Named after D.K. Tyagi
Deep Tyagi
Dharmendra Kumar Tyagi, better known as Deep Tyagi or DK Tyagi , was an Assistant Commissioner for the Indian Family Planning program until 1969. An early pioneer of family planning in India and elsewhere, he was a champion of the program under the premierships of Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur...
(a leader of family planning
Family planning
Family planning is the planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and...
programs in India), DKT International annually sells millions of condoms at discounted rates in developing countries around the world. By selling the condoms instead of giving them away, DKT intends to make its customers invested in using the devices. One of DKT's more notable programs is its work in Ethiopia, where soldiers are required to carry a condom every time they leave base. The rate of HIV infection in the Ethiopian military, about 5%, is believed to be the lowest among African militaries.
In 1987, Tufts University students Davin Wedel and Adam Glickman started Global Protection Corp. in response to C. Everett Koop's statement that "a condoms can save your life." Since that time, Global Protection Corp. has become known for its innovative approach to condom marketing and its support of more than 3500 non-profit organizations worldwide. The company has numerous patents and trademarks to its name, including the only FDA-approved glow-in-the-dark condom, the Pleasure Plus condom and the original condom keychain. In 2005 the company introduced its newest product, One Condoms. One represents a complete reinvention of retail condom brands, combining sleek metal packaging, innovative condom wrappers and innovative marketing programs. One is also the first condom brand to donate 5% of sales to the development of sexual health outreach and educational programs.