Lanteen Cap Diaphragm and Jelly Set
Lanteen Cap Diaphragm and Jelly Set
- Description
- Orange, red, and brown cardboard box containing a cap diaphragm set: one cap diaphragm in clear plastic case, one contraceptive jelly applicator in a cellophane wrapper, and one paper instruction booklet entitled "Directions for Marriage Hygiene". Price $3.00. Original set included a 3 ounce tube of jelly - not present in the museum's specimen. Lanteen jelly active ingredients as listed on the box: hexylresorcinol; glycerine; chlorothymol; sodium benzoate; ricinoleic acid.
- Lanteen Laboratories (Lanteen Medical Laboratories) of Chicago, Illinois, produced a suite of color-coded contraceptive products for women including diaphragms, jellies, sanitary vaginal sponges, and douche solutions. The "Brown" Cap-Diaphragm combined characteristics of a cervical cap and a diaphragm. It was available through door-to-door sales, at drugstores, and at special Lanteen company clinics. The cap diaphragm did not require individual fitting by a physician (as did the diaphragm), and according to the company literature its one standard size was "adaptable for use by the normal woman."
- To avoid prosecution at a time when providing contraceptives or information about contraception was illegal in the United States, the company used the term "marriage hygiene" to refer to contraception and "certain germs" to refer to sperm.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Object Name
- Diaphragm, Kit
- date made
- ca 1944
- place made
- United States: Illinois, Chicago
- Physical Description
- metal; rubber (diaphragm material)
- metal (tube key material)
- paper (booklet, instruction(2) material)
- plastic (applicator material)
- plastic (diaphragm case material)
- Measurements
- overall, box: 8 1/8 in x 3 1/8 in x 1 3/4 in; 20.6375 cm x 7.9375 cm x 4.445 cm
- ID Number
- 1977.0941.01
- accession number
- 1977.0941
- catalog number
- 1977.0941.01
- Credit Line
- Gift of Robert Locurto
- subject
- Women's Health
- Birth Control/Contraception
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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.
Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.