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Low-Dose Demulen Oral Contraceptive

National Museum of American History

Object Details

G. D. Searle and Company
Description (Brief)
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.
Searle & Company produced this Low-Dose Demulen brand oral contraceptive in San Juan, Puerto Rico, around 1976. Searle was the first company to manufacture birth control pills. These Low-Dose Demulen pills came in a yellow plastic compact case. Inside the compact is a 21-pill blister pack that organizes the monthly pill regimen into weekly rows, labeled by day of the week.
Location
Currently not on view
Credit Line
Gift of Gladys Abell and Lester D. Johnson, Jr., M.D.
1976
ID Number
1981.0760.013
catalog number
1981.0760.013
accession number
1981.0760
Object Name
pharmaceutical, compact of
contraceptive, oral
Other Terms
pharmaceutical, compact of; Pharmaceutical; Contraceptive; Oral Contraceptive; Tablet
Physical Description
ethynodiol diacetate, 1 mg (drug active ingredients)
ethinyl estradiol, 50 mcg (drug active ingredients)
white (pill color)
Measurements
overall: 1.5 cm x 9.5 cm x 11.5 cm; 9/16 in x 3 3/4 in x 4 1/2 in
overall, as stored: 1/2 in x 3 3/4 in x 4 5/8 in; 1.27 cm x 9.525 cm x 11.7475 cm
place made
Puerto Rico: San Juan, San Juan
See more items in
Medicine and Science: Medicine
Health & Medicine
Birth Control
National Museum of American History
Subject
Birth Control/Contraception
Women's Health
Record ID
nmah_1068227
Metadata Usage (text)
CC0
GUID (Link to Original Record)
https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a9-17fe-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
Low Dose Demulen 21
There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page .
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IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and media viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. Visit the IIIF page to learn more.
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