Pan Prophylactics
date: label: date made
content: c. 1950s
label: date made
content: 1950s
name: label: maker
content: W. H. Reed & Co., Inc.
notes: label: Description
content: This Pan brand condom was manufactured during the first half of the 20th century. The cardboard container features an image of the mythic Greek god Pan playing his flute. The image of Pan was likely used because of Pan’s association with sexuality and male virility. A flap lifts up to reveal two condoms and the text “Fine Quality.”
label: Description
content: In 1938, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeled condoms a “medical device;” this enabled the FDA to test condoms to ensure that they did not have holes or tears. Before 1938, companies that voluntarily tested their condoms often made a point of advertising their condoms as “tested.” Not all companies that claimed to test their condoms, however, did so.
label: Description
content: Condoms such as these which claimed to be "tested" tended to be more expensive than those which were untested.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Georgia, Atlanta
topic: label: Subject
content: Birth Control/Contraception
label: 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: 2004.0129.10
label: accession number
content: 2004.0129
label: catalog number
content: 2004.0129.10
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Box, Condom
label: Object Name
content: contraceptive, condom
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 3.1 cm x 11.6 cm x 26 cm; 1 1/4 in x 4 9/16 in x 10 1/4 in
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 1/4 in x 4 5/8 in x 10 1/4 in; 3.175 cm x 11.7475 cm x 26.035 cm