Birth Control

[Chicago, Illinois]: Lanteen Medical Laboratories, Inc, 1934. Very good. Toned with wear to extremities, lower right-hand corner chipped with minimal loss. Upper wrapper/first leaf water stained.. Advertising booklet for Lanteen brand diaphragms, contraceptive jellies, and douches for protecting "multitudes of women whose health requires this safeguard" (p. 10). Begins with a fictional story of a young married woman seeking the advice of a fatherly and distinguished doctor, who debunks common misconceptions about birth control and gives her a prescription for Lanteen products. Includes prices for an illustrations of the products, as well as a brief lesson on reproductive health and answers to frequently asked questions. Includes a list of editions on the first leaf verso, claiming to have published over twelve million copies of the booklet to date. Interestingly, the booklet offers the following note on the potential wider spread of birth control use: "One word to all who are worried about the wider spread knowledge of birth control as regards to the morals of the young. The diaphragm method is not adaptable to the young woman ... No virgin would be attracted nor induced into beginning illicit liaisons because she had knowledge of the diaphragm method. Its field of usefulness lies wholly within the bonds of wedlock" (p. 19). Also of interest is the final section, which includes a moral defense of birth control: "Some persons are surprised to find that Birth Control is legal, but these Bureaus are entirely within the law in everything they do. In fact, they are institutions of the highest ethical ranking ... One of the moral reasons for the practice of birth control is that it eliminates the dangers of illegal abortions ... [medical professionals will] urge on wives the importance of using, before it is too late, reliable contra-ceptive methods to avoid undesired pregnancies" (p.22). 12mo (6.5" by 4.5"), pp. 24, including wrappers, with in-text illustrations, stapled in original illustrated wrappers. (Inventory #: 22001781)