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.
The Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company of Morris Plains, New Jersey, produced this oral contraceptive around 1972. The dispenser contains 35 pills of .3-milligrams of Quingestanol Acetate, a progestogen. The front of the dispenser is unlabeled. A slit displays the day of the week and a tab can be lifted to extract the daily pill. The back bears directions and information for the user.
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