Despite all the advances in health and medicine, the basic concept of the condom has remained largely the same for thousands of years. Of course, the technology, materials and understanding of human physiology have improved over time, but the idea of men wearing an external sheath during intercourse in order to prevent sexually transmitted infections and/or pregnancy hasn’t changed.
Here’s what to know about the long history of the condom, from ancient times to present-day prophylactics.
Condoms in Ancient Times
It’s not entirely clear when, exactly, the condom was invented because as medical historian Vern Burrough pointed out in 1981, “its history is lost in the myths of antiquity.” While some scholars suggest that the ancient Egyptians were among the first to use condoms—likely made of linen—Donna Drucker, assistant director of scholarship and research development at the Columbia University School of Nursing and the author of Contraception: A Concise History, says that “female barrier methods were more popular than male barrier methods.”
Similarly, Ancient Romans reportedly used linen sheath condoms, as well as those made from the intestines or bladder of a sheep or a goat, to prevent the spread of infections like syphilis. Early Chinese civilizations developed condoms made from silk paper and used in conjunction with oil for lubrication, as well as versions made from thin leather.
Early Descriptions of the Condom
As scientific and medical knowledge progressed during the Renaissance period, so too did the condom. According to the Dittrick Medical History Center’s contraception exhibit, condoms were widely used in 15th-century Europe, thanks to a syphilis epidemic.
Shortly after that, in 1564, Italian anatomist Gabriello Fallopio penned what is considered the earliest description of the condom: a linen sheath fastened with a ribbon, offering protection against syphilis. Still, condoms made from animal materials—especially the intestines of a sheep, or fish skins—continued to be popular, according to Drucker.
“They were not single use, but rather washable and reusable,” she says. These condoms were often used with ointments and medicinal solutions.
The word “condom” (spelled “condum”) appeared in print for the first time in 1706 in a poem by Lord Belhaven. It also appeared in Francis Grose’s 1785 book A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, which defines “cundum” as “the dried gut of a sheep, worn by men in the act of coition, to prevent venereal infection.”
A different type of condom known as the kabuto-gata and made from a tortoise shell or horn was developed in Japan during the 17th century, along with a leather version called a kawa-gata.
Condoms in the 19th and Early 20th Century
In the early 19th century, condoms were referred to using coded names like “baudruches,” “French letters,” “safes,” “armour” and “machines” and could be purchased at taverns, barber shops, brothels and from peddlers. However, prior to 1840, condoms weren’t yet widely used because they cost one dollar at a time when a week’s salary was around $14, according to the Dittrick Medical History Center’s contraception exhibit.
At this time, inventors attempted to make a condom out of waterproof fabric using gutta percha (a kind of latex derived from trees) and India rubber, but weren’t successful. These early rubber condoms were “thick and broke or crumbled,” Drucker says. While these condoms were soft and pliant when they were warm, they became still and brittle when they were cold.
Everything changed in 1844, when Charles Goodyear patented vulcanized rubber. The first vulcanized rubber condom became widely available in 1855, bringing down the price of the prophylactic considerably and making them accessible to members of the middle- and working-classes.
“Vulcanized rubber made condoms more flexible, thinner and did not reduce sensation as much as un-vulcanized rubber,” Drucker says. “Vulcanized rubber eclipsed other methods almost entirely, though occasionally in the twentieth century, entrepreneurial manufacturers would pitch the sheep-intestine or fish skin reusable condoms to consumers in the spirit of environmentalism.”
But it wasn’t long before another obstacle soon made it harder for Amricans to buy condoms. “Due to the Comstock Act of 1873, which forbade sending any sex-related goods through the mail—and advertising and selling them—condoms could only be marketed and sold as disease preventatives, not as pregnancy preventatives,” Drucker says.
Condoms weren’t regularly used for family planning or limitation until the 1910s-1920s, according to Drucker. “Men could buy condoms at local pharmacies or druggists or obtain them through mail order,” she says. Women rarely, if ever, purchased condoms, she notes.
Distribution in World War I, World War II
While the French and German armies issued condoms to their troops at the beginning of World War I, the British and American armed forces initially did not provide soldiers with prophylactics because moral crusaders in the respective countries feared that it would lead to extramarital sexual activity. However, distribution of condoms to British troops began in 1917, when sexually transmitted infections kept 5 percent of soldiers off battlefields. The U.S. army followed suit a year later for the same reason.
Shortly after World War I, a new type of condom was introduced. “Latex rubber was developed in 1920 and made condoms even thinner and more durable than vulcanized rubber alone,” Drucker says. “They were also less labor intensive—and cheaper—to make.” Latex condoms also had a shelf life of five years: a major improvement over rubber condoms, which were only good for three months.
World War II saw the first large-scale systematic promotion of condoms for disease prevention through military training films, posters and pamphlets. Condoms were issued to all American troops, and were also available for purchase from an army post exchange.
Condoms in Postwar America
While condoms distributed to soldiers during the wars were primarily for the purpose of preventing them from contracting and spreading sexually transmitted infections, that quickly changed when the troops returned home.
“Preventing the transmission of venereal disease was the condom’s public health mission until the mid-20th century when it became the main method of family planning,” says Jennifer K. Nieves, archivist and museum registrar at the Dittrick Medical History Center. Plus, beginning around the 1950s, a greater range of condoms became available, including those with”wider variation in lubrication, texture, color, size and thickness,” Drucker says.
Between 1955 and 1965, 42 percent of Americans of reproductive age relied on condoms for birth control, according to the Dittrick Medical History Center contraception exhibit. However, the condom’s modern heyday was short lived: by the 1960s, their use decreased, thanks to the availability of oral contraceptive pills and the intrauterine device (IUD).
By 1965, 22 percent of couples using contraception opted to use condoms; by 1976, that figure was down to 11 percent, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But condom use for disease prevention would soon be on the rise once again.
“There was a resurgence of condom use in the 1980s after the appearance of HIV/AIDS,” Nieves says. In 1986, U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop issued the Surgeon General’s Report on AIDS, recommending the use of condoms as a way to prevent transmission of the virus.
