History of the Disposable Diaper

When I was a young teenager, changing diapers for my baby brother and on babysitting gigs, it was all cloth. I could change a sleepy baby’s cloth diaper in the dark, large safety pins and all. A couple of decades later when I was a parent, it was all disposable. What happened? Virginia Postel tells the story in “Engineering the disposable diaper: Benjamin Spock told mothers in the mid-twentieth century to buy six dozen cloth diapers and a covered pail. Within a decade, both were obsolete” (Works in Progress, April 24, 2026). Back in 1957, disposable diapers had about 1% of the diaper market. They were expensive, and mainly used for situation where diapers would need to be changed while travelling. Postel takes up the story: After buying Charmin Paper Company in 1957, Procter & Gamble began looking for ideas for new paper products. Motivated by the less pleasant aspects of spending time with his new grandchild, the company’s director of exploratory development, Victor Mills, suggested…