Get it on: Condoms

Today, no form of birth control is as widespread as the condom – or as essential for sexual health. But it wasn’t always so. Condoms were often associated with promiscuity and venereal disease, and were sold discreetly, in plain packaging. They were also notoriously unreliable.

The quality improved in the 1970s, when international standards were enforced. Then New Zealanders began to trust condoms more. By the late 1980s, they were too frightened not to – HIV/Aids had arrived. Clever, colourful packaging helped spread the message of protection.