Garnet Ortho Personal Pak

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, marketed the Personal Pak pill case in 2000. Women could choose from six different cases, including this “Garnet” style. The Personal Pak was used in conjunction with the Ortho Cyclen and Ortho Tri-Cyclen brand birth control pills, which came in a blister pack ring that allowed the Personal Pak to be refilled every month.

Date Made: 2000

Maker: Ortho Pharmaceutical Corporation

Location: Currently not on view

Subject: Birth Control/ContraceptionWomen's Health

Subject:

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

Exhibition:

Exhibition Location:

Credit Line: Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical Company, Inc

Data Source: National Museum of American History

Id Number: 2000.0090.15.2Accession Number: 2000.0090Catalog Number: 2000.0090.15.2

Object Name: oral contraceptive tablet dispensercontraceptive, oral

Physical Description: plastic (compact material)plastic (blister pack holder material)plastic (blister pack ring material)paper (box material)foil (blister pack ring material)Measurements: overall: 9.1 cm x 8.3 cm x 1.8 cm; 3 9/16 in x 3 1/4 in x 11/16 inoverall: 3/4 in x 3 1/4 in x 3 5/8 in; 1.905 cm x 8.255 cm x 9.2075 cm

Guid: http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a3-c316-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa

Record Id: nmah_557431

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.