Romeos, Reservoir Ends Rubber Prophylactics
date: label: date made
content: 1950s - 1960s
name: label: maker
content: Aronab Products Co.
notes: label: Description
content: Romeos brand prophylactic condoms were manufactured by the Killian Manufacturing Company of Akron, Ohio and distributed by the Aronab Products Company of San Francisco, California 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 beige, red and white tin originally held three condoms which were sold for the price of 50 cents. The shield logo has a mortar and pestle to underscore the idea of a medical device along with a cross.
label: Description
content: The condoms are advertised as having "RESERVOIR ENDS" on the tin. These tips prevented a condom from tearing.
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: Description
content: By selling their condoms only in drug stores, the manufacturers of these condoms were able to underscore the legitimacy of their product and to charge higher prices.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: California, San Francisco
topic: label: associated subject; web subject
content: Sexually Transmitted Diseases
label: associated subject; web subject
content: Birth Control/Contraception
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: 1983.0871.85
label: accession number
content: 1983.0871
label: catalog number
content: 1983.0871.85
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Prophylactic
label: Object Name
content: contraceptive, condom
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: rubber; metal; paint (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5.5 cm x 4.2 cm; x 2 3/16 in x 1 5/8 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 3/4 in x 2 1/8 in x 1/4 in; 4.445 cm x 5.3975 cm x .635 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 11/16 in x 2 1/8 in x 1/4 in; 4.2545 cm x 5.3975 cm x .635 cm