Condoms – A History

Each year, people from all over the world use 9 billion condoms. And while that may seem like a definitive win for people and institutions advocating the importance of safe sex, condom use is far from being universally accepted. While there’s a general consensus among experts and doctors that condoms have the ability to greatly reduce the rate of new cases for infections from sexually-transmitted diseases and HIV, there are many who still oppose their promotion.

The Catholic Church for instance, has been very vocal as of late with their opposition to the usage of condoms. Pope Benedict for one has stated on record that AIDS and HIV should only be controlled through abstinence alone.

Arguments for and against condom usage aside, you’re bound to have won
dered at some point where condoms came from. Here’s a brief look on their colorful history.

1000 BC

It was during this time that the earliest records on condom-like devices were made and found. The earliest condoms were apparently made from more primitive materials—primitive when compared to polyurethane and latex. Condoms then were made of silk paper, linen, leather, and even hollowed out horns.

1500s to 1600s

Gabrielle Fallopius, a doctor in Italy who just so happens to be the man the female fallopian tubes are named after, developed the idea of using linen sheath devices as a means of protecting against syphilis, At the time, the disease was a fatal epidemic.

Besides the use of linen, condoms were also made from bladder and intestines during the Renaissance period, perhaps giving birth to what we now know as the lambskin condom.

1855

Goodyear produced the first rubber condom after Charles Goodyear discovered a method of processing natural rubber to make it elastic without being too soft or hard. The first rubber condom unfortunately, was far from being as comfortable as it is today; it was apparently as thick as the inner tube of a bicycle tire.

1912

Condoms finally became cheap and disposable with the introduction of the first latex condoms. This paved the way for single-use condoms, which were mass produced during the Second World War and distributed to troops all over the world.

1980s

The media emphasis placed on deaths from HIV sparked a movement to push condom usage to the mainstream. The issue of safe sex finally became less of a taboo as fears about HIV and AIDs rocked households all over America.

2000s

Condom sales breach the 9 billion mark worldwide. Condoms are now better and more reliable than ever. With reports of allergies to latex, manufacturers have created polyurethane condoms for people sensitive to latex.