Predictor Pregnancy Test
date: label: date made
content: 1970
label: date of invention
content: 1968
label: FDA approval date
content: 1976
name: label: designer
content: Crane, Margaret
notes: label: Description
content: Margaret Crane, the inventor of the first home pregnancy test, worked as a graphic designer for Organon, a pharmaceutical company in West Orange, New Jersey. Crane received a patent on her design in 1968. Before the development of the Predictor, women needed to consult with their physician to receive confirmation of a pregnancy. With the Predictor, a woman could learn on her own whether she was pregnant---or not.
label: Description
content: The process took about two hours and could be performed in the privacy of one’s own home. A woman who suspected she was pregnant put a few drops of urine in a test tube. She then added a chemical solution, shook the tube, and allowed it to rest for two hours. Women who were pregnant would then see a dark brown circle on a yellow background on the mirror on the bottom of the kit (if there was no pregnancy, the background remained completely yellow).
label: Description
content: The makers of the test claimed a woman could use it to detect pregnancy as early as four days after a missed period. To avoid false negatives, consumer advocates recommended testing no sooner than 14 days after a missed period. In contrast, some doctors’ offices and/or clinics waited to perform a pregnancy test until roughly 45 days after a missed period.
label: Description
content: The kit was sold in Canada and the Netherlands by the early 1970s; the Predictor depicted here is a Canadian kit. It took a little longer for the Predictor, which fell under the category of a “medical device,” to get FDA approval for the US; it was approved in 1976. In 1971, Canadians could buy the Predictor for approximately $5.50 (Canadian dollars). In the U.S. where ads for the predictor often appeared in ads for drug stores, it cost $7.95.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey, West Orange
label: place made
content: Canada
topic: label: associated subject; web subject
content: Pregnancy
label: associated subject; web subject
content: Diagnostic Equipment
label: associated subject; web subject
content: Obstetrics
label: associa; maker's community; user's communityted subject; web subject
content: Women
label: associated subject; web subject
content: Women's Health Products
label: associated subject; web subject
content: Women's Health
label: associated subject; web subject
content: Women Inventors
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
label: See more items in
content: The Antibody Initiative
label: See more items in
content: Antibody Initiative: Diagnostics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2015.0220.02
label: accession number
content: 2015.0220
label: catalog number
content: 2015.0220.02
label: patent number
content: 215,774 S
label: patent number
content: 3,579,306 A
objectType: label: Object Name
content: diagnostic, pregnancy
label: Object Name
content: biological
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (box material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (dropper material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (dropper top material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (test tube material)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (holder within the box material)
label: Physical Description
content: unknown reflective material (angled mirror material)
label: Measurements
content: overall, paper box: 4 1/8 in x 1 3/4 in x 1 5/8 in; 10.4775 cm x 4.445 cm x 4.1275 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall, kit: 3 3/4 in x 1 1/2 in x 1 1/2 in; 9.525 cm x 3.81 cm x 3.81 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall, paper insert: 14 1/4 in x 9 3/8 in; 36.195 cm x 23.8125 cm