Desogen Remember Me Oral Contraceptive Compliance Kit

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.

Description (Brief)

Organon International of Oss, Holland, produced this Desogen Remember Me Compliance Kit around 1993. The kit contains a package of contraceptives, a toothbrush, and a small bar of soap. There is a “Remember Me” sticker meant to be affixed to the bathroom mirror. The box bears the slogan “Brush your teeth, wash your face, take your pill . . . once a day. Everyday. At the Same Time.” This professional sample of Desogen is still in its foil wrapper, which contained a tablet dispenser with 21 white hormonal tablets and 7 inert green tablets. The 28-pill monthly dosage is arranged in four weekly rows of seven pills in the blister pack and came with a slipcover.

Date Made: 1993

Maker: Organon Inc.N.V. Organon

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: Netherlands: North Brabant, OssUnited States: New Jersey, Orange

Subject: Birth Control/ContraceptionWomen's Health

Subject:

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Medicine, Health & Medicine, Birth Control

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Gift of Gladys Johnson

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 2004.0118.12Accession Number: 2004.0118Catalog Number: 2004.0118.12

Object Name: contraceptive, oral

Physical Description: desogestrel, 0.15 mg (drug active ingredients)ethinyl estradiol, 0.03 mg (drug active ingredients)cardboard (box, soap box material)plastic (toothbrush material)foil (pill package material)vinyl (slip cover material)Measurements: overall: 21 cm x 15 cm x 3.4 cm; 8 1/4 in x 5 7/8 in x 1 5/16 inoverall: 1 5/8 in x 5 1/8 in x 8 3/8 in; 4.1275 cm x 13.0175 cm x 21.2725 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-663a-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_1273034

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.