Protex Contracept Plus Anti-Sperm Formula
date: label: date made
content: ca 1984
notes: label: Description
content: This Protex Contracept Plus condom was manufactured and distributed by National Sanitary Laboratories, Inc. of Lincolnwood, Illinois in 1984. The blue condom package contained a “Super Thin Condom lubricated with Anti-Sperm Formula for Double Protection.” Black text at the bottom of the box reads “This product combines a latex condom and a spermicidal lubricant. The spermicide nonoxynol-9 reduces the number of active sperm, thereby decreasing the risk of pregnancy if you lose your erection before withdrawal and some semen spill outside the condom. However, the extent of decreased risk has not been established. This condom should not be used as a substitute for the combined use of a vaginal spermicide and a condom.” The reverse of the package reads “Highly Effective against Sexually Transmitted Diseases.”
label: Description
content: The inclusion of spermicidal lubricant was a marked change from the condoms of the early 20th century that were sold “for disease prevention only.” After 1965, the court case, Griswold v Connecticut, opened the door for the sale of condoms as a contraceptive.
label: Description
content: Protex condoms were often sold through vending machines. Throughout the twentieth century, vending machines were an easy way to discreetly distribute condoms.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Lincolnwood
label: place distributed
content: United States: Illinois, Lincolnwood
topic: label: Subject
content: Birth Control/Contraception
label: Subject
content: Sexually Transmitted Diseases
label: Subject
content: Sex
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1989.0416.033
label: catalog number
content: 1989.0416.033
label: accession number
content: 1989.0416
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Condom
label: Object Name
content: contraceptive, condom, novelty
label: Other Terms
content: Condom; Contraceptive Devices
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: plastic (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/8 in x 1 1/2 in x 1/4 in; 5.3975 cm x 3.81 cm x .635 cm