September 25, 2026 • 8 mins
A lot of people want sex . . but they don’t always want babies. That’s been the story of human sexuality for thousands of years. But the pill has only been around for about 65 years. So . . what did folks do to enjoy sex while minimizing the chance of procreation? Think poison plants, animal dung, lemon cups, and even Lysol. Not all of it paints a pretty picture!
Feel free to DM me if you have a story you’d like me to cover . . on Facebook it’s Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, admit it. We like sex, right? And yes,
we like babies, but we also like sex just for
the sake of it sometimes. And babies are not always
the desired outcome. So before the advent of the pill
or other modern-day contraceptives, how did folks attempt to have
sex without constant pregnancies? They did have a lot of kids,
(00:22):
but that's a different story. This has been a question
for thousands of years. I'm Patti Steele. What do lemon peels,
crocodile dung, a bewildering variety of plants, vulcanized rubber, and yes,
even Lysol have in common? That's next on The Backstory.
(00:43):
We're back with The Backstory. Sex is as natural an
instinct for most life forms as food, water, and air.
It's the way we assure the future of life on
Earth by creating the next generation. But It's also intriguing
to us without the next generation part of the story.
The problem is, for thousands of years, it was tough
(01:04):
for humans to indulge without an unintended pregnancy. They wanted
to figure out a way to control when or whether
they had children. So what were their options? Well, some
of their methods were actually pretty clever. Others showed a
basic misunderstanding about the human body, and some were downright dangerous. Now,
(01:25):
one of the earliest written records of contraception comes from
ancient Egypt. Medical documents from thousands of years ago describe
all sorts of different attempts to prevent pregnancy. Some involved
vaginal potions made from things like acacia, honey, oils, and
this will make you feel sexy, crocodile dung. Acacia leaves
(01:47):
and dung were mixed with honey and lint to form
a primitive sort of cap much like today's diaphragm, to
prevent conception. The basic idea was actually logical. Create a
physical or chemical barrier that might interfere with sperm. Now,
in some cases, women were told to drink a mixture
of copper salt and water to prevent conceiving for a year.
(02:11):
Not only was it not effective, it was also dangerous.
And there you have it. A lot of these ancient
recipes were based more on traditional beliefs than on scientific evidence.
And not every method described actually worked or was safe.
So throughout the history of contraception, people clearly understood that
sexual activity could lead to pregnancy. But they didn't yet
(02:35):
understand exactly how ovulation, sperm, fertilization, and hormones worked. The
Greeks and Romans continued experimenting with ways to enjoy sex
while avoiding a little bundle nine months later. They had
a better understanding of women's cycles, so timing was one method,
along with withdrawal. Then they began to think about using
(02:57):
physical barriers. They made early versions of condoms from materials
like animal intestines or bladders. Yuck. But those were developed
as much to protect folks from sexually transmitted diseases as
they were for pregnancy. Plants of all sorts were also
relied on to discourage pregnancy, including Queen Anne's lace, willow, myrrh,
(03:20):
date palms, pennyroyal, and pomegranate. Recent studies have shown that
some of these do discourage pregnancy, but it's chancy, and
at the end of the day, it wasn't always a win,
since some of this stuff is actually poisonous. Native American
tribes also used a variety of plants for contraception, including
Indian paintbrush, bitter cherry, and lily of the valley. In
(03:43):
the Middle East during the 10th century, They were back
to using dung, this time from elephants, which they usually
blended with cabbage and pitch to form a barrier that
they believed was also a spermicidal. By the time you
get to medieval Europe, the sensibilities about sex and pregnancy
were really influenced by the church. Any attempt to prevent
(04:06):
pregnancy was considered immoral. Women did share, though, info about
ways to induce an abortion using certain herbs and but
sometimes a woman would simply have the baby and then
kill it. Not a pretty picture. Eventually, women who either
had or helped with abortions were labeled as witches. They
were accused of infanticide and of having the power to
(04:29):
steal men's penises, and sometimes that ended in death for them.
By the 18th century, the idea of creating barrier methods
was even more in vogue. The infamous Italian lover Casanova
had his first sexual experience with not one but two sisters.
He said that gave him the most important passion in
(04:50):
his life. He admitted to over 130 important, air quotes,
lovers in his life, but historians agree that it was
probably many more if you leave out the important label.
To practice some sort of safe sex, Casanova came up
with something he called an assurance cap, basically the rind
(05:11):
of half a lemon. which again acted as a primitive diaphragm,
and the acid in the lemon also helped as a spermicidal.
During the 19th century, contraception became more political, as they
tried to prevent the birth of children whose parents couldn't
take care of them all. And it also became more scientific.
Folks used condoms tied on with ribbons, diaphragms, cervical caps, withdrawal,
(05:36):
and a bunch of chemicals. The invention of vulcanized rubber
in 1839 changed allowed people inexpensive access to effective diaphragms
as well as condoms that could be washed and reused.
Before that, condoms were always made of animal membranes, which
cost about a buck apiece at that time, something only
the rich could afford since the average working-class man only
(05:59):
made somewhere between a dollar and six dollars a week.
Even then, to prevent contraception after sex, women would use
a syringe to rinse themselves out, filled with mixtures of vinegar,
baking soda, alum, quinine, or corrosive substances like mercury and arsenic.
And sometimes they used Coca-Cola or even Lysol, which was
(06:22):
invented in 1889. It was incredibly dangerous. It wasn't until
1960 that the first birth control pill was introduced in
the United States, just in time for the sexual revolution.
Or maybe the sexual revolution was brought on by the pill.
Who knows? Today, contraception looks totally different for us than
(06:43):
it did thousands or even hundreds of years ago. We
can choose IUDs, implants, injections, pills, diaphragms, condoms, fertility awareness methods,
even vasectomies. So throughout history, folks knew that sex could
lead to pregnancy. And they developed a ton of strategies
to try to prevent it. Some a little creepier than others,
(07:06):
like crocodile dung and Lysol. But They didn't know the
science of it. Probably the most interesting part of this
is that the basic human goal never really changed. People
have always wanted some control over when they had kids,
how many they had, and the spacing between babies. What
changed was our ability to understand the process of enjoying
(07:30):
sex and sometimes creating new life and how to reliably
control that. From ancient Egyptian remedies to the modern birth
control pill and IUD, the history of contraception is pretty fascinating.
At the end of the day, contraception is really a
history of folks trying to come to grips with one
(07:50):
of the most fundamental processes of human life. I hope
you're enjoying the backstory with Patti Steele. Please leave a
review or follow or subscribe for free to get new
episodes delivered automatically. And feel free to DM me if
you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook,
it's Patty Steele. And on Instagram, Real Patty Steele. I'm
(08:19):
Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks,
The Elvis Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Mike Peseglia. Our writer is Jake Kushner. New episodes
are out every Tuesday and Friday. And feel free to
reach out to me with comments and story suggestions on
Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
(08:41):
Thanks for listening to The Backstory with Patty Steele, the
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
All right, admit it. We like sex, right? And yes,
we like babies, but we also like sex just for
the sake of it sometimes. And babies are not always
the desired outcome. So before the advent of the pill
or other modern-day contraceptives, how did folks attempt to have
sex without constant pregnancies? They did have a lot of kids,
(00:22):
but that's a different story. This has been a question
for thousands of years. I'm Patti Steele. What do lemon peels,
crocodile dung, a bewildering variety of plants, vulcanized rubber, and yes,
even Lysol have in common? That's next on The Backstory.
(00:43):
We're back with The Backstory. Sex is as natural an
instinct for most life forms as food, water, and air.
It's the way we assure the future of life on
Earth by creating the next generation. But It's also intriguing
to us without the next generation part of the story.
The problem is, for thousands of years, it was tough
(01:04):
for humans to indulge without an unintended pregnancy. They wanted
to figure out a way to control when or whether
they had children. So what were their options? Well, some
of their methods were actually pretty clever. Others showed a
basic misunderstanding about the human body, and some were downright dangerous. Now,
(01:25):
one of the earliest written records of contraception comes from
ancient Egypt. Medical documents from thousands of years ago describe
all sorts of different attempts to prevent pregnancy. Some involved
vaginal potions made from things like acacia, honey, oils, and
this will make you feel sexy, crocodile dung. Acacia leaves
(01:47):
and dung were mixed with honey and lint to form
a primitive sort of cap much like today's diaphragm, to
prevent conception. The basic idea was actually logical. Create a
physical or chemical barrier that might interfere with sperm. Now,
in some cases, women were told to drink a mixture
of copper salt and water to prevent conceiving for a year.
(02:11):
Not only was it not effective, it was also dangerous.
And there you have it. A lot of these ancient
recipes were based more on traditional beliefs than on scientific evidence.
And not every method described actually worked or was safe.
So throughout the history of contraception, people clearly understood that
sexual activity could lead to pregnancy. But they didn't yet
(02:35):
understand exactly how ovulation, sperm, fertilization, and hormones worked. The
Greeks and Romans continued experimenting with ways to enjoy sex
while avoiding a little bundle nine months later. They had
a better understanding of women's cycles, so timing was one method,
along with withdrawal. Then they began to think about using
(02:57):
physical barriers. They made early versions of condoms from materials
like animal intestines or bladders. Yuck. But those were developed
as much to protect folks from sexually transmitted diseases as
they were for pregnancy. Plants of all sorts were also
relied on to discourage pregnancy, including Queen Anne's lace, willow, myrrh,
(03:20):
date palms, pennyroyal, and pomegranate. Recent studies have shown that
some of these do discourage pregnancy, but it's chancy, and
at the end of the day, it wasn't always a win,
since some of this stuff is actually poisonous. Native American
tribes also used a variety of plants for contraception, including
Indian paintbrush, bitter cherry, and lily of the valley. In
(03:43):
the Middle East during the 10th century, They were back
to using dung, this time from elephants, which they usually
blended with cabbage and pitch to form a barrier that
they believed was also a spermicidal. By the time you
get to medieval Europe, the sensibilities about sex and pregnancy
were really influenced by the church. Any attempt to prevent
(04:06):
pregnancy was considered immoral. Women did share, though, info about
ways to induce an abortion using certain herbs and but
sometimes a woman would simply have the baby and then
kill it. Not a pretty picture. Eventually, women who either
had or helped with abortions were labeled as witches. They
were accused of infanticide and of having the power to
(04:29):
steal men's penises, and sometimes that ended in death for them.
By the 18th century, the idea of creating barrier methods
was even more in vogue. The infamous Italian lover Casanova
had his first sexual experience with not one but two sisters.
He said that gave him the most important passion in
(04:50):
his life. He admitted to over 130 important, air quotes,
lovers in his life, but historians agree that it was
probably many more if you leave out the important label.
To practice some sort of safe sex, Casanova came up
with something he called an assurance cap, basically the rind
(05:11):
of half a lemon. which again acted as a primitive diaphragm,
and the acid in the lemon also helped as a spermicidal.
During the 19th century, contraception became more political, as they
tried to prevent the birth of children whose parents couldn't
take care of them all. And it also became more scientific.
Folks used condoms tied on with ribbons, diaphragms, cervical caps, withdrawal,
(05:36):
and a bunch of chemicals. The invention of vulcanized rubber
in 1839 changed allowed people inexpensive access to effective diaphragms
as well as condoms that could be washed and reused.
Before that, condoms were always made of animal membranes, which
cost about a buck apiece at that time, something only
the rich could afford since the average working-class man only
(05:59):
made somewhere between a dollar and six dollars a week.
Even then, to prevent contraception after sex, women would use
a syringe to rinse themselves out, filled with mixtures of vinegar,
baking soda, alum, quinine, or corrosive substances like mercury and arsenic.
And sometimes they used Coca-Cola or even Lysol, which was
(06:22):
invented in 1889. It was incredibly dangerous. It wasn't until
1960 that the first birth control pill was introduced in
the United States, just in time for the sexual revolution.
Or maybe the sexual revolution was brought on by the pill.
Who knows? Today, contraception looks totally different for us than
(06:43):
it did thousands or even hundreds of years ago. We
can choose IUDs, implants, injections, pills, diaphragms, condoms, fertility awareness methods,
even vasectomies. So throughout history, folks knew that sex could
lead to pregnancy. And they developed a ton of strategies
to try to prevent it. Some a little creepier than others,
(07:06):
like crocodile dung and Lysol. But They didn't know the
science of it. Probably the most interesting part of this
is that the basic human goal never really changed. People
have always wanted some control over when they had kids,
how many they had, and the spacing between babies. What
changed was our ability to understand the process of enjoying
(07:30):
sex and sometimes creating new life and how to reliably
control that. From ancient Egyptian remedies to the modern birth
control pill and IUD, the history of contraception is pretty fascinating.
At the end of the day, contraception is really a
history of folks trying to come to grips with one
(07:50):
of the most fundamental processes of human life. I hope
you're enjoying the backstory with Patti Steele. Please leave a
review or follow or subscribe for free to get new
episodes delivered automatically. And feel free to DM me if
you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook,
it's Patty Steele. And on Instagram, Real Patty Steele. I'm
(08:19):
Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premier Networks,
The Elvis Duran Group, and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer
is Mike Peseglia. Our writer is Jake Kushner. New episodes
are out every Tuesday and Friday. And feel free to
reach out to me with comments and story suggestions on
Instagram at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele.
(08:41):
Thanks for listening to The Backstory with Patty Steele, the
pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.
Host
Patty Steele
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