Seven Steps to Folding Your Own Condom by Linda Lee Graham

Today on History Undressed, I am very excited to introduce to you our guest author, Linda Lee Graham. She's written us a truly entertaining, fascinating historical article!! Take notes! Also don't forget to leave a comment for your chance to win an ebook copy of Linda's book, Voices Beckon. Enjoy!


[image error] Seven Steps to Folding Your Own Condomby Linda Lee Graham


Known as redingotes d'Anglaise(English raincoats) by the French, and baudruches(French letters), armour, sheaths, and machines by the English, condoms were abooming trade in eighteenth-century London. No matter the dire warnings fromthe Church, condemning the condom as immoral, and no matter the occasional prominentphysician who blasted it as useless, an ever-growing demand created thepotential for profit. Whenever that's the case, commerce finds a way to thrive.


Although its value as a contraceptive was known, evidence suggests itsprimary use was as a preventative. The threat of contracting "the great pox"was a very real concern in the 1700s.  Atthe time, the term was used interchangeably to denote both gonorrhea (the clap)and syphilis, and the adjective "great," though not always present, distinguishedit from chickenpox and smallpox.


There was no effective cure for the pox, so the promise of preventionwas enticing. Payment could be high for that one quick indiscretion while outcarousing with one's mates—and if a lad had a friend, a sailor for Pete'ssake,  who'd vowed he'd been usingcondoms for years with no sign of the dreaded pox—why wouldn't he be tempted toconsider the condom as well?
London entrepreneurs, not a few of them women, sold their wares intaverns, pubs, barbershops, and apothecaries, as well as hawked them streetsideand in open-air markets. Startup and operating costs were negligible. Animalintestines were inexpensive and easily obtained from the local butcher, sulfurand lye from the neighborhood apothecary, and silk ribbon from the localhaberdasher. The steps were simple:
Soak theintestines in water for several hours.Soften the mess bysoaking it in a weak lye solution for a day or two, changing the solution everytwelve hours.Scrape the mucousmembrane off the intestinal material.Soften theremaining matter over the vapor of 'burning brimstone' (steam it over hot sulfur).Wash what's leftwith lye soap and water.Cut intooblong-shaped pieces and fold up into a sack (about seven inches should do,maybe eight).Punch tiny holesaround the top edges and thread the ribbon (pink was especially popular) throughthose holes.
 Voila! Onesize fits all.
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Casanova's Party TrickFor the truly ambitious, the moist gut instep six might be molded over an oiled glass cast that has been blown into theappropriate shape.


It's best not to try any of this at home. The fumes from the sulfur andlye can cause debilitating side effects and the effort might result in a condomriddled with holes. (Hence Casanova's Party Trick in image at right).


Visit the local drugstore instead.


A linen condom was easy to produce as well, provided one was proficientwith a needle. But the trade found the gut variety sold better, as the seam onthe linen condom proved uncomfortable to customers.


These little devices were expensive, and it was not uncommon for a manto save and reuse his armour. Buying, washing, and reselling used condomsevolved into a lucrative side occupation for those with ready access to abrothel.


Now, why this surge of capitalism didn't catch on in eighteenth-centuryPhiladelphia, I'm not sure. It certainly wasn't for lack of need. Immigrantsfrom all over the world flowed into the city through its harbor, making Philadelphiathe most ethnically and socially diverse city in the new United States, as wellas the city with the closest ties to Europe. Venereal disease was epidemicduring the last two decades of the 1700s, and casual sex, children borneoutside of wedlock, adultery, and prostitution were commonplace.


Nevertheless, it was one industry in which it appears our Americanforefathers lagged behind. It may be that individuals made do with their ownresources, or that the supply of black market condoms smuggled in by thecarrying trade was sufficient to fill the demand. But for whatever reason,evidence suggests condoms were not sold openly on Philadelphia's Market Street.


That began to change in the mid 1790s. Moreau de St. Méry, anex-patriot from France, visited Philadelphia in 1793 and decided to stay. Heopened a  bookstore on Front and Walnutin 1794 and stocked it with condoms as well as books, thinking to provide forthe French colonials. He soon found the small items to be in great demand bythe Americans.


St. Méry credits himself that "the use of this medium on the vastAmerican continent dates from this time." And though happy to supply a need andmake a profit, he did deride the American customers' surreptitious purchase anduse. By the time he closed up shop in the late 1790s, Philadelphians could maketheir discreet purchases in any number of establishments.


The merit of condoms was subject for discussion in one of the scenes ofVoices Beckon, and not, heavenforbid, out of any desire to be "politically correct" on my part. I merely thoughtprotection would have been on the mind of any randy young lad with a mind tohis future.


Collier, Aine, The Humble Little Condom, A History,(Amherst, New York 2007)
Lyons, Clare, Sex Among the Rabble, An Intimate History ofGender & Power in the Age of Revolution, Philadelphia, 1730-1830(University of North Carolina Press, NC 2006)
St. Méry , Moreau de,  Moreaude St. Méry's American Journey (1793-1798), translated and edited byKenneth Roberts and Anne Roberts, (Garden City, NY 1947)
Image of MarketStreet:  Mather, Horace, Early Philadelphia: Its People, Life &Progress, (Philadelphia, PA  1917)


About the book:The year is 1783 and passengers are swarming the bustling Bristolquay, anxiously awaiting the call to board.

David Graham, a Scot indentured for the next six years to aPhiladelphia printer, waits among them, as does Elisabeth Hale, a youngEnglishwoman making the passage with her father, and Liam Brock, an orphanedScot with a dubious past.
Thrown together despite differences of class and religion, thesethree teens forge an unwavering bond of friendship, love, and loyalty—until Elisabethis forced to make a choice that threatens to shatter their world.
Voices Beckonspans seven years in the lives of David, Elisabeth, and Liam. Rich inhistorical detail, this sweeping romance chronicles their coming of age againstthe vivid backdrop of the developing United States of America.
Voices Beckonis available on Amazonand BarnesandNoble.I'd love for readers to stop by my website and follow me on Twitter.