Silver-Tex, Super Fine
date: label: date made
content: ca 1940s-1950s
name: label: maker
content: Killian Mfg. Co.
notes: label: Description
content: Silver Tex Super Fine condoms were manufactured by the Killian Manufacturing Company of Akron, Ohio during the middle of the 20th century. Killian was among the larger condom manufacturing companies in the middle of the twentieth century.
label: Description
content: This silver envelope originally held condoms. It has black print, along with a stylized leaf and bud design. The text on the front of the envelope reads "The text on the front of the envelope reads “SILVER TEX SUPER FINE. Text on the back of the envelope reads “SILVER-TEX A LIQUID LATEX PROPHYLACTIC MADE IN U.S.A. GUARANTEED FIVE YEARS.” Text on the left side of the envelope reads “PROPHYLACTICS.” Text on the right side reads “ONE FOURTH DOZEN RUBBERS.” Text at the bottom of the envelope reads “NOTICE The within articles are manufactured to be sold and used for the Prevention of Contagious Disease only.”
label: Description
content: Beginning in about 1920, condom manufacturers had begun using latex, as opposed to rubber, for their condoms. Because rubber condom manufacturing required the addition of gasoline to create liquid rubber, condom factories which produced rubber condoms were extremely susceptible to destruction by fire. Unlike rubber, latex is not highly flammable. It also has a high tensile strength and can be stretched more easily than rubber.
label: Description
content: In 1872, the Comstock Act had prohibited interstate commerce in obscene literature and immoral material. Condoms and other forms of birth control fell under the category of “immoral material.” As forbidden material, condoms were rarely advertised openly.
label: Description
content: However, during the early twentieth century, rising concerns about gonorrhea and syphilis led a growing number of public health advocates to call for condoms to be sold to prevent disease. In 1918, a court case in New York, (The People of the State of New York v Margaret H. Sanger) clarified that physicians could prescribe condoms to prevent disease. Named after Judge Frederick Crane who wrote the opinion in the case, the Crane decision opened the door for condom manufacturers to openly advertise and sell condoms, provided they were sold as a disease preventative.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: associated subject; web subject
content: Birth Control/Contraception
label: associated subject; web 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: 1983.0871.86
label: accession number
content: 1983.0871
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0871.86
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Condom, Envelope
label: Object Name
content: contraceptive, condom
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 12.5 cm x 5 cm; x 4 15/16 in x 1 15/16 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 7/8 in x 4 3/4 in; 4.7625 cm x 12.065 cm