Buzz
While this may not be the ideal moment for a birds-and-bees discussion, it’s worth noting that intimacy between two people doesn’t always aim to result in a child. In fact, there are times when avoiding pregnancy is the primary goal. Before the wide array of modern contraceptive options, how did people manage to enjoy intimacy without the risk of creating a family?
1. Crocodile Dung
The Ancient Egyptians excelled in many areas, but their idea of using a mixture of crocodile dung and honey as a contraceptive is, by today’s standards, utterly shocking. Despite its unsettling nature, this method, documented in papyri from 1850 BCE, might have been effective. The alkaline properties of crocodile dung could have served as a spermicide, while the physical presence of the dung ball might have acted as a barrier to prevent conception.
2. The Honey, Dates, and Acacia Tampon
The renowned Ebers Papyrus, dating back to approximately 1550 BCE, provides instructions for women to create a mixture that might resemble a dessert or drink—combining honey, dates, and acacia juice extract from the tannin-rich acacia tree. This concoction was then applied to a wool tampon and used as a contraceptive. While honey and dates likely had little effect, acacia, which modern studies show can be transformed into spermicidal lactic acid anhydride, was probably effective. Interestingly, these sticky, uncomfortable recipes, along with another involving donkey milk-soaked tampons, were buried with deceased women to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the afterlife.
3. Other Items for Contraceptive Use
The Ancient Egyptians weren’t alone in recognizing that inserting substances could prevent pregnancy. In first-century India, women used pessaries made from oil-soaked rock salt, a blend of honey, ghee (clarified butter), and palasha tree seeds, or even elephant dung. Dioscorides, a Greek physician from the same era, suggested using peppermint or sicklewort mixed with honey. By the 17th and 18th centuries, women employed half a lemon as a cervical cap, a method often attributed to Casanova, though evidence suggests it was widely used across various cultures.
Vaginal suppositories remained in use well into the 20th century. Cocoa butter pessaries were available in London until 1960, and some women in the 1970s even used vitamin-C tablets, which, unsurprisingly, caused a burning sensation.
4. Early Diaphragms and Barriers
Pessaries crafted from food items and animal waste served dual purposes: physically blocking sperm and, in some cases, acting as spermicides. Beyond these, various objects were repurposed as diaphragms, cervical caps, and other barriers. These included a peculiar six-sided wooden block from the Victorian era, notoriously difficult to use and labeled an “instrument of torture”; natural sponges; a teapot lid, according to the traveling History of Contraception Museum; rubber; algae and seaweed; wool; custom-made gold or silver caps; oiled paper; small stones; and molded beeswax.
5. The Douching Method
Women in ancient Rome and Greece favored douching, using seawater, vinegar, lemon juice, and other acidic solutions to flush out sperm. In India, women experimented with steam treatments using specialized kettles. However, it was American teenagers in the mid-20th century who popularized Coca-Cola as a post-coital rinse. Despite lacking spermicidal properties, Coke—whether Diet, New, Cherry, or otherwise—was widely attempted, aided by its convenient “shake and shoot” bottle design (thanks, Snopes). While it sounds like an urban legend, anecdotal accounts, such as a friend of a friend’s cousin getting a bottle stuck, suggest otherwise.
6. Post-Coital Contraception
Soranus, a name that brings a smile, was a first-century Greek physician who recommended that women wishing to avoid pregnancy should hold their breath, sneeze, and drink cold water immediately after intercourse. If that failed, he suggested kicking one’s heels toward the buttocks to dislodge the “seed.” As a last resort, jumping up and down was advised.
7. Consume This, Avoid That
Long before Margaret Sanger introduced The Pill, women turned to oral contraceptives to manage fertility, though not always safely. Ancient Chinese women drank mercury solutions, which likely caused sterilization but also severe health issues like brain damage and kidney failure. Similarly, drinking water used by blacksmiths to cool iron, a practice spanning ancient Greece to medieval Europe, was equally harmful. Herbal remedies, such as pennyroyal tea or infusions from pine or vitex (known as “the chaste tree” to Greek women), were popular but often toxic in anything but minimal doses.
Some oral contraceptive methods were less harmful. Ancient Greek women consumed pomegranate seeds, inspired by the myth of Persephone, or used them vaginally. In India and Sri Lanka, daily papaya consumption was recommended to prevent pregnancy, as modern studies show that the enzyme papain interferes with progesterone, a key pregnancy hormone.
Peter of Spain, a 13th-century physician’s son who later became Pope John XXI, provided detailed medieval contraceptive advice. His recommendations included herbal concoctions like sage (to be eaten, ideally in a creamy pasta dish) and hemlock (applied as a plaster to the testicles).
8. Weasel Testicles, Mule Earwax, and Black Cats
Medieval understanding of conception was deeply flawed. Beyond the misconception that menstruation was the ideal time for conception—believed to be when women contributed to the “baby batter”—people relied on bizarre methods to avoid pregnancy. These included wearing a weasel’s testicles around the neck, amulets made of mule earwax, donkey dung, or a mule’s uterus, or even a bone from the right side of an entirely black cat strapped to the thigh. Dioscorides, the Greek physician, suggested wearing a necklace crafted from an asparagus stalk.
Animal testicles weren’t just worn as necklaces; they were also consumed. Women in North America reportedly drank a concoction of dried beaver testicles and alcohol to prevent pregnancy. Similarly, early physicians advised men to drink potions made from crushed animal testicles, often from mules, to avoid impregnating their partners.
9. The Condom
Even without a full understanding of conception, pre-modern societies recognized that intercourse played a role and that the man’s contribution was key. A 12,000 to 15,000-year-old cave painting in France may depict the earliest known condom use. King Minos of Crete, around 3000 BCE, allegedly used goat bladders as condoms, and an ancient Egyptian illustration from 3000 years ago appears to show a man wearing a protective sheath. The oldest surviving condoms, dating back to 1640, were made from animal tissue and discovered at Dudley Castle in England.
The origin of the term “condoms” is debated. Some historians attribute it to an 18th-century physician named Dr. Condom, who allegedly provided a British king with reusable sheep intestine condoms. However, it’s more plausible that the word derives from the Latin condon, meaning “receptacle.” Casanova, the infamous lover, reportedly used linen condoms, while 19th-century Japanese men favored kabutogata—rigid sheaths made of leather or tortoiseshell, far from being designed for comfort. Today, those with latex allergies can still purchase sheep intestine condoms, though they are single-use and less effective at preventing diseases compared to latex.
Before latex, rubber was the material of choice for condoms, with Goodyear, the tire company, entering the market early. In 1861, the New York Times advertised “Dr. Power’s French Preventatives,” a Goodyear-produced condom. Latex condoms emerged in the 1930s, revolutionizing the industry.
