Kōrero: Contraception and sterilisation

Early reusable condom (1 o 6)

Early reusable condom

This reusable condom dates from the 1950s. Condom manufacturing was revolutionised by the invention of rubber vulcanisation by Charles Goodyear (founder of the Goodyear tyre company) and Thomas Hancock in 1844. This made it possible to mass-produce rubber goods, including condoms, quickly and cheaply. Vulcanisation turns rubber into a strong elastic material. However, the rubber on finer condoms tended to perish on the sea journey to New Zealand. Thicker condoms such as this one were more reliable but less comfortable to wear.

Courtesy of Family Planning, Dame Margaret Sparrow Collection

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Te Ara - The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Photograph by Marguerite Hill

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Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Jane Tolerton, 'Contraception and sterilisation - Early 20th-century methods', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/photograph/26971/early-reusable-condom (accessed 29 March 2024)

He kōrero nā Jane Tolerton, i tāngia i te 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 7 Dec 2018