Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Marion Donovan - Disposable diaper inventor

  1. #1
    Danny62 Guest

    Marion Donovan - Disposable diaper inventor

    Yes another useless post!!

    While the name Marion Donovan is not a household word, mothers everywhere owe a debt of gratitude to her for patenting the first disposable diaper and reusable diaper cover.

    As a child in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Marion (nee Oâ??Brien in 1917) spent most of her childhood in her father and uncleâ??s manufacturing plant, where the "South Bend lathe" (an industrial lathe used for grinding gun barrels and automobile gears) was invented. After graduating from college in 1939 with a degree in English Literature, she worked as an assistant beauty editor at Vogue but gave up her position when she married James Donovan and moved to Westport, Connecticut.

    After World War II, Marion was a housewife and young mother struggling with a chore that all motherâ??s suffered through: constantly changing soiled diapers, sheets and baby clothes. In exasperation, she sat down and developed a leak-proof diaper cover sewn from a shower curtain. That day in 1946 marked a turning point in diaper history. This reusable cover would keep babyâ??s clothes (and bedclothes) dry but didnâ??t cause chafing or diaper rash like other available diaper covers. Marionâ??s invention, called "the Boater", was further improved with metal and plastic snaps which removed the hazardous safety pins used in most cloth diapers.

    Oddly, she found no takers among the manufacturers that she marketed her creation to. However, other motherâ??s obviously realized the value of her product when it became an instant hit at Saks Fifth Avenue after itâ??s debut in 1949. Marion obtained a patent for the diaper cover in 1951 and promptly sold it to the Keko Corporation for 1 million dollars.

    She soon developed a fully disposable paper diaper that kept the moisture away from babyâ??s skin, but again found no taker among paper manufacturers. Fully disposable diapers would not become popular until 1961, when Victor Mills developed Pampers for Proctor and Gamble.
    Undeterred, Marion went on to earn an Architecture degree from Yale University in 1958. In addition to building her own house in 1980, she obtained 20 patents over the course of her life. Among her patents are: improvements to dental floss; a multi-garment compact hanger; a mechanism designed to help women zip up dresses; and a soap dish that drains directly into the sink.

    Her death in 1998 helped to shed some light on the advances she made, but Marion is still largely an unsung hero, at least to motherâ??s with small children

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    canadia
    Posts
    4,430
    not useless to me. that was interesting.
    she was a gifted woman
    and my day would be even more exhausting if not for her.
    yay marion!!
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

  3. #3
    firegilnotguns Guest
    Man, disposable diapering is SO expensive and SO bad for the environment. Yes, I know, some people think it's much easier and that it's worth the price to use disposables all the time because of that. Just want to add that cloth diapering has come a LONG way and it's not just having to fold diapers, use pins and rubber pants anymore. Just saying people should consider looking into alternatives is all.
    /rant over

  4. #4
    poppie Guest
    I remember when you walked into a house and knew they had a new baby. Almost nothing smelled worse than a diaper pail that wasn't properly monitored.

  5. #5
    endsleigh03 Guest
    My sister use to rinse her cloth diapers out in the toilet (don't know if thats what everybody did)
    Then she'd leave them there for a bit.
    Better not have to use the bathroom fast at her house back in those times.

  6. #6
    Jazbabee Guest
    What a shitty job......but VERY glad she did it !!!!

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Location
    Middle Earth
    Posts
    13,009
    We used cloth diapers and rinsed them out in the toilet.
    Stay in Drugs. Eat your School. Don't do Vegetables.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •