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Ohio inventions and firsts · Company innovation · 1961

Pampers

In 1961 P&G researcher Victor Mills, tired of changing cloth diapers on his grandchild, had the Exploratory Division in the Miami Valley develop a disposable diaper; Alfred Goldman of Benton & Bowles named it Pampers.

At a glance

Year
1961
By
Victor Mills
Company
Procter & Gamble
Place
Cincinnati, Hamilton County ZIP 45202 · Cincinnati · Hamilton County

The story

Cloth diapers meant laundry every day. Victor Mills, a Procter and Gamble chemical engineer, disliked changing cloth diapers on his newborn grandchild and set a team to find something better.

In 1961 the team at P&G's Miami Valley, Ohio facility, which included researcher Norma Lueders Baker, produced a disposable diaper. Alfred Goldman of the Benton and Bowles advertising agency coined the name Pampers.

The product kept improving. Adhesive tabs and release strips were patented in 1971, elasticized leg gussets arrived in 1982, absorbent gel material cut diaper weight by 50 percent in 1986, and frontal tape for repositioning followed in 1987.

Pampers remains a P&G brand, now with training pants, wipes, and natural lines (2018). This page does not claim it was the first disposable diaper, and neither do we.

Timeline

  • 1961: P&G researcher Victor Mills's team develops Pampers at the Miami Valley facility. (Cincinnati area, OH) source
  • 1971: A patent is filed for adhesive tabs and release strips. source
  • 1982: Elasticized gussets are added. source
  • 1986: Absorbent gel material cuts diaper weight by 50 percent. source
  • 1987: Frontal tape lets parents reposition the diaper. source
  • 2018: Natural formulations are introduced. source

What it changed

  • Absorbent gel cut diaper weight by 50 percent in 1986.

Why it matters

First wildly successful disposable diaper.

Who gets the credit is disputed

The Ohio claim. Procter & Gamble researcher Victor Mills led work in the Miami Valley that produced the disposable diaper, and the company named it Pampers in 1961.

The other claims. The national launch year is commonly given as 1966, and Marion Donovan's earlier disposable-diaper work is a precedent. Neither point has been checked here.

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.