Ortho-Novum SQ Oral Contraceptive
date: label: date made
content: ca 1965
name: label: maker
content: Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation
notes: label: Description (Brief)
content: 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.
label: Description (Brief)
content: The Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation of Raritan, New Jersey produced this Ortho-Novum SQ brand oral contraceptive around 1965. The DialPak, introduced by Ortho in 1963, was the first contraceptive packaging to incorporate a “memory aid.” When the user turned the dial to dispense the next pill, the blue wheel in the center would advance to display the next day of the week. The pack includes three cycles of 20 pills.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey, Raritan
topic: label: Subject
content: Birth Control/Contraception
label: Subject
content: Women's Health
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: Birth Control
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Margaret Sanger Center
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1982.0531.029
label: accession number
content: 1982.0531
label: catalog number
content: 1982.0531.029
objectType: label: Object Name
content: contraceptive, oral
label: Other Terms
content: Contraceptives; Patent Medicines; Drugs; Non-Liquid
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: mestranol, 0.08 mg (drug active ingredient)
label: Physical Description
content: norethindrone, 2 mg (drug active ingredient)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (tablet dispenser material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (instructions material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7.3 cm x 6.4 cm x .6 cm; 2 7/8 in x 2 1/2 in x 1/4 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1/2 in x 2 1/2 in x 3 in; 1.27 cm x 6.35 cm x 7.62 cm