Diaper. History of invention and production

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HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY, TECHNOLOGY, OBJECTS AROUND US
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Diaper. History of invention and production

The history of technology, technology, objects around us

Directory / The history of technology, technology, objects around us

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A diaper is a type of underwear designed to absorb urine and prevent soiling of outer clothing. They are used in most cases by children, astronauts, assemblers, pilots, climbers, divers, bedridden patients, patients with serious illnesses.

Traditionally, a diaper is a triangular hemmed piece of fabric or gauze, folded in several layers so as to form a triangle. It is used mainly in the care of young children. The diaper is placed on the changing table, under the baby, so that the base of the triangle is under the baby's lower back, and the top is between the legs. The top of the triangle is drawn between the child's legs, forming a gusset and covering the genitals and clasping the legs, after which the corners of the diaper from under the waist are wrapped around the child's waist. Fixation is achieved either by further swaddling, when the diaper wrapping the baby's body presses the ends of the diaper wound behind the back. Another option is to fasten the diaper with a fibula hairpin or a pin on the stomach. The panty diaper fastens with Velcro fasteners and is worn like regular underpants.

Diaper
Diaper

The American inventor Marion Donovan was the first to think about alleviating the fate of young parents. In 1946, using waterproof bathroom curtains, she sewed a diaper cover to keep the sheets in a crib from getting wet. The final version was made from parachute nylon and had plastic buttons as fasteners. In 1951, Marion received a patent for her invention, which became popular. But attempts to create disposable absorbent paper-based baby diapers failed: the paper companies that Marion turned to simply ridiculed her, saying that "it's impractical and no one needs it."

In 1957, the baton that fell from Donovan's hands was picked up by Victor Mills, one of the leading chemists at Procter & Gamble. By then, he had been with the company for 31 years, and with his ingenious solutions to turn problematic products into bestsellers, he had earned a reputation for working miracles (in particular, he developed the technology for producing Pringles chips). Not surprisingly, it was Mills who was asked by management. P&G had recently acquired the Charmin Paper Company and needed ideas for paper products.

Victor had recently become a grandfather by that time, so the idea of disposable paper diapers was close to him. He consulted with pediatricians, who enthusiastically approved of his proposal. The P&G research department went to the toy store, where they bought several Betsy Wetsy pissing dolls, which were popular at the time. It was on them that disposable absorbent diapers were tested. And soon human trials began - in fact, on Mills's three grandchildren and the twins of his colleague Bob Duncan.

The first diapers were fairly simple - square pieces of absorbent paper coated with polyethylene and fastened with pins - and cost about half a dollar apiece in today's money. But even in this form, they made a real revolution when they were released to the market in Illinois in 1961.

Diaper
Ads for diapers

The new product entered the global market under the Pampers brand in the early 1970s and immediately became a real bestseller. Subsequently, the paper was replaced by superabsorbent, developed in the late 1960s by chemists from Johnson & Johnson and Dow Chemical. Now 30 billion disposable diapers are sold annually in the world. I wonder what the representatives of the paper companies that refused to support Marion Donovan think about this?

Author: S.Apresov

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