Each mark on these calendars
keeps track of when
a woman from Norbury
was taking the contraceptive pill.

21 days of taking the pill
was followed by seven days off.
She started taking the Pill
just before she got married.
She did not want
to have children straight away.

A woman from Norbury explains
what it was like to
start taking the contraceptive pill:

"In 1965 it just wasn't something
you spoke openly to people about.

The Pill was quite a new thing then.
My friend was taking it and
as a biology teacher
she understood how it worked.
She explained it to me
and said that she thought it was safe,
so I followed her advice and took it."

"You had to keep these
little pill calendars
and fill them in every day
so that they could check
whether you'd taken your pills.
It was a much higher dosage
in those days,
so they kept a close check
on your blood pressure and weight."

The contraceptive pill
became available in Britain in 1961.
By 1965,
460,000 women across the country
were taking it.

Moral critics attacked the Pill.
It would encourage free love
and undermine family values.

The careful completion of calendars
is at odds with
the idea of sexual freedom.
For many women,
the Pill was simply a chance
to plan their families reliably
for the first time.

We are working hard to write
an ‘Explore’ page for every object
in the Museum of Croydon.

If you would like to suggest
a visit, website or book
which would help people
find out more about this object
then please contact us:

Museum of Croydon
Croydon Clocktower
Katharine Street
Croydon
CR9 1ET
Tel: 020 8253 1022
Email: museum@croydon.gov.uk