History of adult diapers

[Elbs]

Does anyone know of any sources for history of adult diapers before the fifties? I'm writing a story set in the twenties and I can't figure out what diapers would have been available, if any.

[Dartplayerinwvc]

Google works: "adult diapers in the 1920s"

https://www.google.com/search?q=adult+diapers+in+the+1920s&sxsrf=ALeKk02ygDUwJc_8ZnzSA9FuJLYMauY3PQ%3A1629893304815&ei=uDImYbGcMZnWtQaL14DgBQ&oq=adult+diapers+in+the+1920s&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6BwgAEEcQsANKBAhBGABQ_-ECWP_hAmDI7gJoBXACeACAAVmIAaYBkgEBMpgBAKABAcgBCMABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwix2NHbkczyAhUZa80KHYsrAFwQ4dUDCA8&uact=5

 

The History of Diapers [2019] - Lil Baby Cakes

https://www.lilbabycakes.com/history-of-baby-diapers.html

[rusty pins]

Ah, the young members who were raised in disposable diapers!  I don't believe you will find disposable adult diapers before the late 1970's.  Back then there was the old Sears catalog I'm sure many people here remember thumbing through to find the incontinence section with adult models wearing adult sized cloth diapers and waterproof pants.  That's what would have been available.  Prior to that, I'm sure people were resourceful and made do with what they could find, including buying diaper fabric from stores and making their own.

[ppdude]

Ahh... yes. The good old days.

 

[willnotwill]

Rubber bloomers/pants and just large cloth diapers have been around for a long time.

Even infants didn't get disposables until the 1950's.   To my knowledge, up until the late 1970s, disposable adult products were limited to some "pads" that were stuck in/to plastic pants.    The earliest "disposable incontinence pants" showed up roughly at that time.    These were fan-fold rectangular things akin to the early 50s & 60s Pampers (before the contour shape).    This continued on until the release of Attends (followed soon by Depend) around 1980.

 

[Elbs]

On 8/25/2021 at 6:09 AM, Dartplayerinwvc said:

Google works: "adult diapers in the 1920s"

https://www.google.com/search?q=adult+diapers+in+the+1920s&sxsrf=ALeKk02ygDUwJc_8ZnzSA9FuJLYMauY3PQ%3A1629893304815&ei=uDImYbGcMZnWtQaL14DgBQ&oq=adult+diapers+in+the+1920s&gs_lcp=Cgdnd3Mtd2l6EAM6BwgAEEcQsANKBAhBGABQ_-ECWP_hAmDI7gJoBXACeACAAVmIAaYBkgEBMpgBAKABAcgBCMABAQ&sclient=gws-wiz&ved=0ahUKEwix2NHbkczyAhUZa80KHYsrAFwQ4dUDCA8&uact=5

 

The History of Diapers [2019] - Lil Baby Cakes

https://www.lilbabycakes.com/history-of-baby-diapers.html

The results and the link are focused on baby diapers, though. Don't condescend to me and assume that I didn't already extensively Google this question.

[oznl]

I can't recall a web source sorry but I can recall reading an account from a retired nurse who had worked in hospitals in that era.  Incontinence then was as prevalent as it is today (probably more so given the paucity of drugs).  She reported that the standard therapy was adult-sized cloth diapers which were "changed five times per day, whether the patient needed it or not".

Plastic waterproof pants were NOT a thing back then.  I recall commentary from my grandmother (which was admittedly relevant only to infant diapers) to the effect that the weapon-of-choice here was knitted woolen covers, the wool being slightly water repellent.  I've no idea whether the application of this wool-based technology was transposed to adults or not but available evidence suggests that many "solutions" were DIY and simply larger versions of what was used on infants so this would seem plausible.

There are a couple of images in the public domain (vanishingly rare) that depict what MIGHT be incontinence wear in the 1920s.  I can't comment on the veracity of this image.  Although there ARE some artifacts that suggest that this is indeed a scanned photograph (as opposed to a born-digital photoshop job), they are obscured by JPEG compression loss.

 

 

[waynecook52]

Well the first adult disposable diaper was,ables flat fold.Im not sure if thats the name when they first came out but its the name now.look it up.If someone can find it I did a post about it a few years ago.I cant seem to be able to find out when they first came out.

[ValentinesStuff]

Somewhere a few years back, I found a picture of a 1920s ageplay party. It included several women in baby carriages. Alas I cannot find it, nor a copy I thought I had saved. ?

[willnotwill]

There were a few of the flatfold diapers in the early days.   Sears was selling a "Medalist" brand.   There was a brand I liked called Ambeze.   I also remember a brand called "Go Aheads."   Even Curity made an adult fan fold.

Ables is  made by  Kendall (now Covidian/Cardinal( and looks like those old briefs.

[waynecook52]

15 hours ago, willnotwill said:

There were a few of the flatfold diapers in the early days.   Sears was selling a "Medalist" brand.   There was a brand I liked called Ambeze.   I also remember a brand called "Go Aheads."   Even Curity made an adult fan fold.

Ables is  made by  Kendall (now Covidian/Cardinal( and looks like those old briefs.

Thanks.the ambeze was the one i was thinking of.Someone gave my mom a pack of them for me to wear in case she did not get around to washing my cloth ones.This was in 1967.HA.She used one and said never again.The reason I remember it was in 67 is where we where living.

[wetatnight 2]

I believe as others here have said that cloth diapers and plastic or rubber pants were what was available as adult diapers prior to the 1970's and 80's

[Wet Knight]

In the 1930's there were rolls of something used for wrapping round delicate objects like picture frames, a coarse net enclosing layers of paper. which in a narrower absorbent form was marketed in the 1950's as "Nappy Roll".

It was advertised as a disposable liner in a terry nappy, or for toddlers as a training aid in underpants, presumably under babypants.

I remember that my brother's babypants in the late 1940's were made of very stiff PVC.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

This is beyond even my ken. The oldiest adult things I recall were from the  1960s. They were the Salk Pro-patn and Sani-pant and a Kleinerts smooth plastic panty, though I anm told there were "rubber bloomers' for adkuts

Here is a picture someone sent me of a long rubber bloomer from before anything I know. I suspect is more period sanitary bloomers]\

I suspect that very little is known about adult incontinence items before 1950 due to a stigma that would be attached to such things and they could be found only by way of the medical community. Bynow, that would be forgotten as most persons did not talk about it and they are dead by now and died long before the  WWW

In my RUBBER PANTIES'R'US, I have a set of ads for baby panties that goes back to 1871, So this is the sesqui-centennial for rubber panties for babies

[skizics]

For story background I would suggest Dr Spock's Baby and Child Care Guide circa 1950's that was the American Bible on baby care  back then. In England they have schools for Nannies (Baby Sitters with smarts) and there are a bunch of those old Text Books that should all be OnLine now. Also the Sears and Montgomery Wards Catalogs are available. And lastly, Diaper Washing Service Histories. When I was delivering News Papers, back in the day, you could always tell who or which house had children in diapers because of all the diapers hanging on their clothes lines to dry.

[Dartplayerinwvc]

What is beyond even my ken ???

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

9 hours ago, skizics said:

For story background I would suggest Dr Spock's Baby and Child Care Guide circa 1950's that was the American Bible on baby care  back then. In England they have schools for Nannies (Baby Sitters with smarts) and there are a bunch of those old Text Books that should all be OnLine now. Also the Sears and Montgomery Wards Catalogs are available. And lastly, Diaper Washing Service Histories. When I was delivering News Papers, back in the day, you could always tell who or which house had children in diapers because of all the diapers hanging on their clothes lines to dry.

What would that tell us about the 1920's? Angela Baur may know something about the matter

9 hours ago, Dartplayerinwvc said:

What is beyond even my ken ???

It m means that even I do not know about the subject matter