Who Was Marion Donovan? Inventor Of Disposable Diapers

The first disposable diaper was created by Marion Donovan, a post-World War II Connecticut mother of two, who was frustrated with having to wash and replace her children's soiled clothes, bed linens, and diapers on a regular basis. Her initial creation was a waterproof diaper cover with snap closures in place of diaper pins, the first of its kind to prevent diaper rashes.

When the product made its debut at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949, it became an instant hit. Despite the product's popularity, Donovan chose to develop it further and create the first fully disposable diaper. Her proposal was never implemented, though, as all the manufacturers she approached said the product was unnecessary. Donovan overcame the setback to become known as "The Mother of Invention," obtaining 20 patents in her.

Who Was Marion Donovan?

Rubber trousers gave unpleasant diaper rashes, and Donovan, a mother fed up with changing wet crib sheets from her baby's dirt, felt firm that cloth diapers worked "more like a wick than a sponge." She took action and came up with a better solution as a result. Instead of using safety pins, Donovan tore her shower curtain off the hook, cut it into pieces, and sewed them into a waterproof diaper cover. This resulted in the creation of a breathable parachute cloth and an absorbent diaper panel insert for the diaper cover. This was dubbed the "Boater" by Donovan due to its boat-like appearance.

Donovan began producing herself, nevertheless, since no well-known companies were interested. The "Boater" at Saks Fifth Avenue was a huge hit in 1949. A few years later, she sold her business and her patents to Keko Corporation for a million dollars, claiming that executives were not interested in her idea to continue developing an absorbent paper diaper, despite her consideration. Pampers, the first disposable diaper to be mass-produced, didn't reach stores until 1961. Donovan's innovation gained notoriety in 1961 when Procter and Gamble introduced Pampers, mostly as a result of sexism. 

Although Donovan never found the ideal manufacturer—mainly because of sexism—she is recognized for her inventions that eventually resulted in the development of disposable diapers, especially inventor Victor Mills' Pampers, which Procter and Gamble released in the United States in 1961.