Enovid Oral Contraceptive
date: label: date made
content: 1955-1960
name: label: maker
content: G. D. Searle and Company
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 G. D. Searle Company of Chicago, Illinois, produced these Enovid 5-milligram tablets for the drug's clinical trials in the late1950s. The oral contraceptive was originally tested in a 10-milligram dose, but when many women experienced unpleasant side effects the dosage was dropped to 5-milligrams. Before the introduction of "memory aid" packaging, Enovid was dispensed in 20 tablet vials. This sample was donated to the Smithsonian by the Margaret Sanger Center of New York City.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
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: 1982.0531.032
label: catalog number
content: 1982.0531.032
label: accession number
content: 1982.0531
objectType: label: Object Name
content: pharmaceutical, vial of
label: Object Name
content: contraceptive, oral
label: Other Terms
content: pharmaceutical, vial of; Pharmaceuticals; Contraceptive; Oral Contraceptive; Tablets
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: norethynodrel, 5 mg (drug active ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: mestranol, 0.075 mg (drug active ingredients)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 5.5 cm x 2.3 cm; 2 3/16 in x 7/8 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 1/8 in x 7/8 in; 5.3975 cm x 2.2225 cm