How Long Have Condoms Been Around? A Lot Longer than You Think.

You are probably here because you like to buy condoms and you are from somewhere in Australia. We ship high quality condoms to you in the privacy of your home and you don’t even have to leave your house.

But it hasn’t always been this easy to have safe sex. Condoms have been around for about 400 years, which is long before the invention of rubber or latex, but elementary forms of them have been around since before the 1400’s. Evidence is firm that upper classes in Asia had glans condoms that only covered the head of the penis. They were made out of materials such as oiled paper, intestine, animal horn or even a tortoise shell.

History of Condoms

In the 16th century, an Italian doctor by the name of Gabriele Falloppio described condoms in his work. If the last name sounds familiar, Fallopian tubes were named after him. Italy was in a raging syphilis epidemic and Dr Falloppio “prescribed” that men wrap their penises in a specially treated linen that was tied off with ribbons. He tried these on 1,110 men, none of whom contracted syphilis.

The oldest condoms that were ever found came from the middle of the 17th century. They were found in the cesspit of an English ruin called Dudley Castle in 1985. They were made of animal intestine and fish. The cesspit or toilet was airtight and preserved the condoms intact. Until the industrial age allowed us to manufacture rubber, all condoms were made of animal intestines.

The First Rubber Condom

Then, in 1844, Charles Goodyear patented the vulcanisation process for rubber. In 1855, the first rubber condom was produced. Until 1912, condoms were made by taking strips of rubber and wrapping them around penis shaped molds.

Then There was Latex...

Finally, in 1920, the first latex condoms were produced. They were thinner and stronger than rubber condoms and had a shelf life of five years instead of rubber’s three months.

And we all lived happily ever after.