The History of Condoms
Digg This!To celebrate National Condom Week 2009, we did a little research on the history of condoms.
Condoms have been around for a very long time. A brief summary of the history of condoms:
1000 B.C. – Condom use can be traced back several thousand years. Images from around 1000 BC show the ancient Egyptians wearing linen sheathes. It’s unclear if they wore these condom-like sheathes for protection or for ritual. Very likely they were used to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.
100-200 A.D. – The earliest evidence of condom use in Europe comes from scenes in cave paintings found in France.
1500s – In Italy, research by Dr.Gabrielle Fallopius (for whom, coincidentally, the female fallopian tube was named) found that linen sheath condoms used to protect against syphilis, a deadly epidemic at that time in history, also helped prevent pregnancy.
1600s – Reports say farmers in Condom, France began using sheep guts as condoms, possibly the origin of the lambskin condom.
1700s – The naming of the condom is a bit of a mystery. Some believe it was named for “Dr. Condom,” who supplied King Charles II of England with animal tissue sheaths. Most likely it came from the Latin word “condom,” which means “receptacle.”
1844 – Goodyear and Hancock began to mass-produce condoms made out of vulcanized rubber, which is a stronger and more elastic material. Men are advised that these rubber condoms can be washed and reused until they crumble.
1861 – The first advertisement for condoms was published in an American newspaper when The New York Times printed an ad for “Dr. Power’s French Preventatives.”
1873 – The Comstock Law was passed. It prohibited the advertising of any sort of birth control, and it also allowed the postal service to confiscate condoms sold through the mail.
1880s – The first latex condom was produced and condoms became a single-use product.
Early 1900s – Social hygienists fought to prohibit the use of condoms by Americans, resulting in U.S. troops in World War I having the highest rate of STDs — over 70%! By World War II, a more realistic attitude had emerged and the government aggressively promoted the use of condoms.
1980s – HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was identified, and the Surgeon General stated that other than abstinence, the most effective way to protect against HIV is to use a latex condom each and every time you have sex. Once a source of embarrassment and absolutely forbidden from being advertised in print or on television, the emergence of HIV as a sexually transmitted disease takes condoms into the mainstream.
1990s – The 1990s saw the introduction of a large number of different types of condoms, including colored condoms, ribbed condoms, studded condoms, flavored condoms, glow-in-the-dark condoms, and large condoms, as well as the first polyurethane condom.
2006
Condom sales reach nine billion worldwide.
