Ortho-Novum 1/50 Oral Contraceptive
date: label: date made
content: ca 1974
name: label: maker
content: Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation
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 Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation of Raritan, New Jersey, produced this Ortho-Novum 1/50 brand oral contraceptive around 1974. The monthly dose of 21 yellow hormonal pills and 7 inert pills are contained in Ortho’s trademarked DialPak dispenser. The DialPak, introduced in 1963, was the first oral contraceptive package to incorporate a “memory aid” and Ortho advertised it as “the package that remembers for her.” The center wheel of the DialPak reveals the day of the week, which aligns with a pill on the outer ring. When the user turned the dial to dispense the next pill, the wheel in the center advanced a day, allowing the user to see if she had taken her pill for that day. The pills are dispensed sideways to accommodate the 28 pills in the cycle.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New Jersey, Raritan
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: Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Company, Inc
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2000.0090.08
label: accession number
content: 2000.0090
label: catalog number
content: 2000.0090.08
objectType: label: Object Name
content: contraceptive, oral
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: norethindrone, 1 mg (drug active ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: mestranol, 0.05 mg (drug active ingredients)
label: Physical Description
content: plastic (packaging material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (label mateial)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7.6 cm x 7.4 cm x 1.2 cm; 3 in x 2 15/16 in x 1/2 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1/2 in x 3 in x 3 in; 1.27 cm x 7.62 cm x 7.62 cm