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History of Condoms One might think that Condoms are a fairly new form of contraceptive, created in some lab not so long ago, but the truth is quite the opposite: the search for the perfect "Willy Wrap" has been going on for longer than you might think. In fact it's said that in ancient Egypt, pharaohs used papyrus reeds to cover their penises during sex. Ancient Roman soldiers used dried sheep intestines (or, as legend has it, the muscles cut from the dead bodies of their enemies) as the preferred condom to ease their minds while raping the widows (how exactly this was believed to work is unknown). Farther east, the Chinese used oiled silk paper, and the Japanese had two forms of a condom: the Kawagata, which was made of thin leather, and Kabutogata, which was made of thin tortoise shells or horns. It is unclear whether these predecessors of the condom were used more to prevent disease or as contraceptive devices, but we do know that by the time the 16th century rolled around, the emphasis was on the prophylactic function of the condom. The Fallopius Sheath The first-known published description of condoms is believed to have been by the Italian Gabrielle Fallopius. Studying at the University of Padua in the 1500s, Fallopius claimed he had invented a sheath that prevented syphilis in 100% of the 1,100 men who had tried it. This "sheath" - which was a standard eight inches long - was constructed of medicated linen that fit over the penis and was tied at the base with a ribbon. This ribbon, of course, was pink, so that it would appeal more to women. So, if Fallopius created the condom, you ask, why don't we refer to it as the Fallopius Sheath or something? Why is it called the condom? Well, as legend has it, we named it after the Earl of Condom of mid-1600s England. It is uncertain whether "Dr. Condom," as people have affectionately nicknamed him, read or heard about Fallopius's invention, but when King Charles II, who had countless mistresses and even more "bastards," decided he needed something that would prevent him from getting syphilis (and, some say, to possibly stop the rapid growth of his court), Condom went right to work. His sheaths were made of oiled and stretched sheep intestines. Soon they were in circulation among many English noblemen, although folklore declares that Condom was firmly against anyone referring to the sheaths as his. The Reusable Rubber It wasn't really until the 19th century that the next innovation in condom evolution came up. In 1844, Goodyear - yes, the people who make your tyre's - and Hancock began to produce condoms out of vulcanized rubber. Vulcanization is a process that treats crude rubber with sulfur and subjects it to intense heat, which turns it into a strong elastic material. Mr. Goodyear might have given the condom a new nickname that is still in use today ("rubber"), but his condoms were a lot different than the ones we're used to now. Men were instructed to wash their condoms before and after sex, and to reuse them again and again until they cracked or broke, which we now know is a definite no-no. Still, it was a beginning of the prevalence of the condom that we see today. Their popularity grew during and immediately following the Civil War, when there was a large boom in prostitution and men became very concerned with protecting themselves. 1861 saw the first advertisement for condoms in an American newspaper, when the New York Times printed an ad for "Dr. Power's French Preventatives." These condoms were so prevalent that they were available almost everywhere, and cost dropped to about a dime for one. |