Approved for use in 1960 (but prescribed only for married women until1962), the Pill quickly became the preferred method for delaying or preventing pregnancy. Unlike existing methods of birth control, the Pill was highly effective, with few side effects.
Ortho DialPak Oral Contraceptive
Object Details
- date made
- ca 1965
- maker
- Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation
- Description (Brief)
- The popularity of “the Pill” created a new market for pharmaceutical companies. For the first time, healthy women would be taking medication for an extended period of time. Pill manufacturers developed unique packaging in order to distinguish their product from those of their competitors and build brand loyalty. Packaging design often incorporated a “memory aid” to assist women in tracking their daily pill regimen, as well as styled cases to allow pills to be discreetly carried in bags and purses. The National Museum of American History’s Division of Medicine and Science’s collection of oral contraceptives illustrates some of the changes that the packaging and marketing of the Pill underwent from its inception in 1960 to the present.
- The Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation of Raritan, New Jersey, produced this oral contraceptive around 1965. Three monthly cycles of 20 pills (60 pills total) are contained in Ortho’s trademarked DialPak dispenser. The DialPak, introduced in 1963, was the first oral contraceptive package to incorporate a “memory aid” which Ortho advertised as “the package that remembers for her.” The center wheel of the DialPak reveals the day of the week and aligns with a pill on the outer ring. When the user turned the dial to dispense the next pill, the wheel in the center advanced a day, allowing the user to see if she had taken her pill.
- Subject
- Birth Control/Contraception
- Women's Health
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- Health & Medicine
- Birth Control
- Credit Line
- Gift of Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Company, Inc.
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
- ID Number
- 2000.0090.05
- accession number
- 2000.0090
- catalog number
- 2000.0090.05
- Object Name
- contraceptive, oral
- Physical Description
- plastic (packaging material)
- Measurements
- overall: 7.4 cm x 6.4 cm x 1.1 cm; 2 15/16 in x 2 1/2 in x 7/16 in
- overall: 1/2 in x 3 in x 2 5/8 in; 1.27 cm x 7.62 cm x 6.6675 cm
- Record ID
- nmah_557420