When the first diapers appeared: the history of creation
There is only one driving force in the world that can unite almost all women in the world, regardless of their religious, political and social views. Her name is motherhood. Nature is arranged so that with the advent of a child, a woman completely devotes herself to caring for a newborn.
The cleanliness and comfort of the baby is the key to sound sleep and good mood for both the baby and his mother. Today it is no longer possible to imagine modern life without “gadgets” that have made the difficult life of mothers easier – without children’s disposable diapers. But they appeared quite recently, at the end of the XNUMXth century.
The first absorbent diapers are mentioned as early as the XNUMXst century BC. So, for example, in the ancient Greek myth describing the childhood of Zeus and Hermes, it was said that instead of diapers for babies, women used animal skins, in which they put moss, grass or other natural materials.
In Russia, many practiced the “planting” method. At the first signs of the baby’s anxiety – spinning, grunting, straining, etc. – the mother supported the child, helping him to cope with his natural needs.
At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, diapers made of knitwear and linen appeared, the absorbent material of which was soft wool. Several layers of fabric were folded in an envelope, securing the free end to the back of the baby. This method turned out to be the most tenacious.
An American is considered the inventor of the progenitor of the modern diaper Marion Donovan – Literary critic, deputy editor of Vogue and mother of many children. She was sorely lacking time to wash the diapers, and she decided to improve the process of caring for her newborn daughter. Marion cut several oilcloths and bathroom curtains into waterproof baby panties that were worn over a regular diaper. Without stopping there, she came up with the idea to sew the resulting structure to children’s panties, and instead of a household oilcloth she began to use special absorbent paper. At the end of all the manipulations, our heroine replaced the sharp safety pins with which the diaper was stuck with a safe metal fastener.
Comfort has always come at a premium. Everyone liked the idea of waterproof baby pants so much that one department store even bought the rights to the invention from Marion for $ 1 million! In 1951, Donovan improved the panties, made them disposable. But this idea no longer found a response in the hearts of the owners of manufacturing companies.
By the way, ten years later, Victor Mills became interested in disposable diapers. Taking Donovan’s idea, he invented the Pampers diapers. The first diaper under this brand was launched in 1961.
But the inhabitants of Northern Europe, who used the traditional method of swaddling at that time, after the Second World War faced a serious problem – a shortage of imported cotton. All available supplies for the Scandinavian region have been donated to health care needs. There was practically nothing to swaddle children with. There was an urgent need to find local raw materials for the production of fabric. In Sweden, thanks to the rich forest area, cotton has been replaced by cellulose fibers made from wood. This is how a very soft crepe paper appeared in the form of cellulose pulp.
After receiving new material, the local company Mölnlycke (became part of the SCA group in 1975) started the production of cellulose diapers. They looked like this: pre-cut pieces of pulp were attached to the panties made of plastic film. Parents had to place the required amount of absorbent material in the child’s diaper on their own, depending on the time of day – less during the day and more at night. Which, of course, was not very convenient.
In 1955, production was launched Quick diapers (snabb-blöjan) —Disposable panties made of waterproof cellulose covering with an absorbent layer inside, fastened with a fabric mesh. These diapers quickly became popular in most of Europe. In Germany and Italy, their parents called them simply – “Swedish diapers”.
In 1967 Europe saw a new model – Combinette one-piece diaper… Its main difference from its predecessors was the functional retaining clip, which was fixed at the front. The novelty gained unprecedented popularity and began to rapidly replace traditional diapers. For almost a decade, they remained at their peak of sales, while the shape of the diapers changed to make them as comfortable as possible for babies. And in 1973, another model appeared on the shelves – T-shaped diaper… It was held in place by the characteristic striped elastic panties. In many European cities in the summer, you could see a lot of young fashionistas, flaunting the novelty.
With the advent of disposable diapers, moms and dads got rid of unnecessary hassle and worries. There are no more endless washes, mothers have ceased to be afraid of children’s “embarrassment” during long walks and travels with babies. This truly ingenious invention has become so irreplaceable that even the world famous brand got its name from the Italian word “free” – Libero. And it’s true, modern diapers gave us exactly that freedom to enjoy carefree communication with our child, which our parents lacked so much.