The Humble Little Condom by Aine Collier

In the U.S., lambskin condoms did experience brief popularity - or at least, some sales growth - between 19, according to a study in the American Journal of Public Health. In 15th century China, too, condoms may have been made of lamb intestines (when they weren’t made of oiled silk paper, at least). That’s right: Roman men were using lambskin condoms centuries before Trojans became a thing ( an irony that was probably lost on Trojan’s creators).

Some people even reused their lambskin condoms, which, while not sanitary, does speak to the durability of these meat casings ( the oldest known surviving condom is a reusable Swedish pig-intestine prophylactic from the 1640s).įar earlier than that, they were popular in the great cultural bastion of perversion otherwise known as the Roman Empire.

And of course, these condoms are a great option if you or your partner is allergic to latex.īut where did these porous, intestinal rubbers originate from? According to Aine Collier’s comprehensive history of the prophylactic, The Humble Little Condom, condoms made from the intestinal lining of mammals have been around for millennia - sausage-makers in Europe often ran a side business making condoms, in fact.Trojan Naturalamb condoms (more on them later) are the largest condoms available - 2.7 inches wide and 7.9 inches long.Lambskin condoms are biodegradable, which is a bonus if you’re trying to fuck in an environmentally conscious way.Lambskin condoms transmit body heat better than latex condoms, which adds an even greater sensation during sexual intercourse.This leads to a different type of sensitivity that has been described as a very intimate sensation. Lambskin condoms seem to have a more natural feel (even more so than polyurethane and polyisoprene condoms).This being the case, why would any man use a lambskin condom? Well, assuming you’re with a partner you trust to be disease-free and are using them purely as contraception, there are a few perks: But not - and this part is rather important - from contracting an STD, since the condom skin itself has small pores through which STD viruses can possibly pass. It is, nonetheless, a piece of a lamb’s membrane that a man can wrap around his penis to prevent him from impregnating a woman.

Yes, despite the name, lambskin condoms aren’t exactly made from a lamb’s actual skin. And everyone lived happily ever after - except, well, the lamb. One day, that little lamb was slaughtered and a thin layer of that lamb’s cecum - a part of its intestine - was made into a condom so that you could use it to have sex without making babies. Once upon a time, Mary had a little lamb.

The Humble Little Condom by Aine Collier