Ortho-Novum 1/80 Oral Contraceptive

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)

The Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation of Raritan, New Jersey, produced this Ortho-Novum 1/80 brand oral contraceptive in 1974. The 28-pill regimen came in Ortho’s patented DialPak dispenser. The dispenser displays the day of the week, which changes as the patient rotates the rim to dispense the next day’s pill. To maintain the routine of taking a daily pill, many manufacturers began including a fourth week of pills that were inert. This Ortho-Novum regimen contains 28 pills, including 7 tablets that were inert.

Date Made: 1974

Maker: Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation

Location: Currently not on view

Place Made: United States: New Jersey, Raritan

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 Abell and Lester D. Johnson, Jr., M.D.

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 1981.0760.043Accession Number: 1981.0760Catalog Number: 1981.0760.043

Object Name: contraceptive, oralcontraceptiveOther Terms: contraceptive; Contraceptives; Patent Medicines; Drugs; Non-Liquid

Physical Description: norethindrone, 1 mg (drug active ingredients)mestranol, 0.08 mg (drug active ingredients)paper (packaging material)plastic (packaging material)Measurements: overall: 13.4 cm x 9.6 cm x 1 cm; 5 9/32 in x 3 25/32 in x 13/32 inoverall: 1/2 in x 3 3/4 in x 5 1/4 in; 1.27 cm x 9.525 cm x 13.335 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-9c80-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_730764

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