Comments on: family planning, old school

family planning, old school

madamjujujive — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:32:24 -0800

Antique contraception & protection from the disease - (NSFW) male & female methodologies of birth control from antiquity to the 1900s in pictures and text (Translated from Russian)

Related: Birth control of yesteryear Natural contraception in the ancient world? - prior post by Chinese Jet Pilot 9 most bizarre birth control methods

By: brennen

brennen — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 19:53:56 -0800

Today I learned that condoms and other contraceptives could not legally be sold in Ireland until 1978.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:19:10 -0800

Fascinating about the giant fennel. When living in West Bengal, I found out that the Santhal tribeswomen used traditional birth control recipes. I was always curious what they used but wasn't motivated until reading your post. Sure enough, they use a plant concoction (no pun intended) that has been found to have an antifertility effect.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:43:50 -0800

Whoa, I just looked at your firt link ( for some reason looked at all the other links first). Omg. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Those pessaries must have been agony. They must have caused all kinds of infections. ack. God, the things we women have done not to get pregnant. And those obstetric tools, omg! When I was a kid Durex condoms were made of sheep's intestines and smelled like it too. unng. In a neat looking little cobalt blue plastic box. Anybody else remember those?

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:44:07 -0800

*first link

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 20:52:01 -0800

Brennan,, I was looking to find out when contraceptives were legal in the US - and found a post I previously made on the anniversary of the Pill - I know it was illegal for single women until 1972 - before that you had to be married & get your husband's OK. Also found a great related prior post by gman that I overlooked: Virgin is not a ditry word. Thanks for the links, nickyskye - that is interesting. I thought about adding folk remedies to this but it seemed like more research than I was up for - so thanks for that!

By: thehmsbeagle

thehmsbeagle — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 21:02:41 -0800

Ahhh, those stem pessaries! Am I understanding correctly that the stem would have protruded through the os from the uterus? Wouldn't you have been in agony pretty much constantly, let alone during sex? The infection rate must have been awful.

By: amethysts

amethysts — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 21:51:54 -0800

Reading about the sylphium was interesting. Particularly how it went extinct. A miracle herb worth it's weight in silver, that only grows in one place, with careful regulations specifically to prevent it from dying out, and they blame "over-grazing". Why were they grazing animals in the one place where the miracle plant can ever grow?

By: anarch

anarch — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 22:04:42 -0800

If it was good enough for granddad...

By: contraption

contraption — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 22:24:13 -0800

amethysts, I just read a claim somewhere (but have closed the tab and don't feel like digging through my history) that animals were deliberately being grazed on the stuff in order to impart some special properties to the meat. I'm curious about the close relatives/possibly identical giant fennel species mentioned in the Wikipedia article; all the fennels I've seen have long, straight seeds, are there still extant species with seeds that are heart-shaped? Is our culinary fennel a close enough relative that pregnant women should stay away from it?

By: Dr. Zira

Dr. Zira — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 22:47:18 -0800

I am madly in love with that postcard in your first link of the Victorian-era woman attempting to beat the stork with her umbrella.

By: Katjusa Roquette

Katjusa Roquette — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:09:16 -0800

They had a lot of information on giant fennel in Archeology Today some years back. Fascinating pictures and article about other methods. even The Pill was of plant origin. Chimpanzees also use plants to keep from getting pregnant.

By: contraption

contraption — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 23:11:49 -0800

Ah, here we go: not heart-shaped, but closer than the stuff we eat.

By: fshgrl

fshgrl — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:24:18 -0800

Today I learned that condoms and other contraceptives could not legally be sold in Ireland until 1978 Yep. One of my relatives worked for Aer Lingus in the 50s and 60s and has amusing stories about smuggling condoms and birth control pills into Ireland in their flight bags (and whisky back out!). There were also doctors that offered sterilization (safely and at reasonably prices, but illegally) and I know a lot of married couples who did that after they'd had kids. It was never talked about and I think people would be surprised to know how often it happened, or that their parents chose that option.

By: rodgerd

rodgerd — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 01:37:29 -0800

One of my relatives worked for Aer Lingus in the 50s and 60s and has amusing stories about smuggling condoms and birth control pills into Ireland in their flight bags (and whisky back out!). Interestingly enough it was mentioned as a minor point in a Dick Francis novel; I can't remember if it was Rat Race or Flying Finish. And people wonder why a chunk of the population of the north have had little desire to joing the south...

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 04:11:48 -0800

When I was a kid Durex condoms were made of sheep's intestines and smelled like it too. unng. In a neat looking little cobalt blue plastic box. Anybody else remember those? I'm guessing you're misremembering here, nickyskye. Durex were manufactured by the London Rubber Company, and have been produced in latex since the 1930's.

By: lollusc

lollusc — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 04:20:26 -0800

Wow, those anti-masturbation devices looked NASTY.

By: AFII

AFII — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 05:38:06 -0800

Er, if you're struggling with the original Russian or the google translation, note that a lot of those images seem to come either from the UK-based 'science & society' picture library (multi-museum project, including London's Science Museum) or from the image collection at the often-linked Wellcome Library. The science & society site has quite extensive 'blurbs' about the objects pictured.

By: StickyCarpet

StickyCarpet — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 09:18:48 -0800

Durex were manufactured by the London Rubber Company Nickyskye, you're probably thinking of the Fourex brand.

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:19:48 -0800

You're right PeterMcDemott! MetaFilter is always exceptional for accurate info. I wondered why I couldn't find a pic of those little cobalt blue boxes online when I looked for them as Durex. They were made by Julius Schmid's Fourex. (Still no pic though.)