The Very Interesting History of the Condom

 By:  Tonya Ewing Esq., M.E.L.

"The Overcoat"

     Italian anatomist Gabriel Fallopius, the 16th century physician who discovered the two slender tubes that carry ova from the ovaries to the uterus, is generally regarded as 'The father of the condom."  In the mid-1500's Dr. Fallopius, designed a medicated linen sheath that fit over the glans, or tip of the penis, and was secured by the foreskin.  Soon sheaths appeared for circumsized men.    Initially, the sheath was to fight venereal disease, which was on an epidemic rise, not to prevent pregnancy.  Contraception was the responsibilty of the female.   They were a standard eight inches long and were tied securely at the base with a pink ribbon, suppossedly to appeal to the female.  This invention was tested on over 1000 men "with complete success," Dr. Fallopius reported.  The sheaths at that time were referred to as "overcoats." 

     The overcoats were thick, desensitizing, and unpopular with men.  They were constructed from animal gut, fish membranes, and linen.  They only occasionally prevented disease due to their improper use.  They were reused... unwashed!  A French marquis sarcastically summed up the situation when he he used a cattle-intestine sheath, and referred to it as "armor against love, gossamer against infection."

"The Condom"

     However, the actual Dr. Condom would not make history with his creative sheath until the mid-1600's.  As legend goes, Dr. Condom was the earl of Condom, the knighted personal physician to King of England, Charles II.  Charles was a notorious lover and had countless mistresses.  Charles needed protection from syphilis.  Dr. Condom's solution was an oiled stretched sheath of sheep's intestine.  This sheath instantly became popular with noblemen at court.  It is also part of the legend that Dr. Condom did not want his name used to describe his invention.

"The Rubber"

     The discovery of Penicillin in this century alleviated man's fear of  contracting and dying from syphilis.  At that point the condom was viewed as protection against pregnancy.

     The 1870's introduced the first condom made of vulcanized rubber.  From that point on the condom took on the popular name, rubber.  A man was instructed to wash his rubber before and after intercourse.  He was allowed to reuse it until it cracked or tore.  However, the rubber condom was still disliked for it's dulling of sensation during sex.  In the 1930's a thinner more modern type of latex rubber was introduced.  

Panati, Charles.  Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, Harper & Row, Publisher's, New York, 1989 (pages 334-335).

"Famous Men, Sex  and Syphilis"

     In the 1700's, the Famous lover Casanova stated he made love to 122 women in one year using the linen condom and avoided acquiring a disease or conceiving a child.

     King Mongut of Siam, circa 1860, considered the world's greatest lover, had nine thousand wives.  His last words before he died of syphilis were "I only really loved the first seven hundred."

     Lenin, Mozart, Beethoven, and Vincent van Gogh are a few others who died from syphilis. 

Largo, Michael.  Final Exits,  HarperCollins Publisher, 2006 (pages 316-318).