Duke Condom Vending Machine
date: label: date made
content: ca 1940s-1950s
name: label: maker
content: Circle Rubber Corp.
notes: label: Description
content: This Duke Condom vending machine was in use during the 1940s. Duke condoms were manufactured by the Circle Rubber Corporation of Newark, New Jersey. The machine dispensed one super thin nipple-ended transparent prophylactic condom for a quarter. The machine notes that the condom is “sold for the prevention of disease only” and that “this machine is placed here as a public health service.”
label: Description
content: Prior to World War II, large condom manufacturers often sold their condoms only to pharmacists to give their wares a moral superiority by ensuring they were used only for their prophylactic purpose and not for contraception. Purchasing condoms from a pharmacy was efficient but also carried a hefty price tag. Many buyers would purchase cheaper condoms from a variety of vendors including barbershops, bartenders, bell hops, street peddlers, and vending machines. Vending machines were especially appealing as buyers could use them to buy condoms discreetly.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey, Newark
topic: label: associated subject; web subject
content: Birth Control/Contraception
label: associated subject; web subject
content: Sexually Transmitted Diseases
label: associated subject; web 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: 1988.0318.01
label: accession number
content: 1988.0318
label: catalog number
content: 1988.0318.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: vending machine, condom
label: Other Terms
content: Condom Vending Machine; Manufacturing And Dispensing Equipment
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)