Where did parents purchase pin-on style prefold cloth diapers and plastic pants during the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s

[Zappafan66]

Hi everyone,

I was curious to know where parents purchased pin-on style prefold cloth diapers and plastic pants from the 50s through the 90s for their older child/teenager that wet the bed. I did some preliminary research on Newspapers.com and saw columns with kids ranging from 7 to 15 that wore cloth diapers and plastic pants to bed. I saw an ad from 1982 from a company called I.M. Dryer that sold diapers and plastic pants for children and adults that wet the bed. I also used to get a catalog (from 1987) from a company called Edley Enterprises based out of New Hampshire. They sold the Lang brand of plastic pants in a pull-on style which fit infants through adults and made diapers which was called the "Thirsty Ones" which were a prefold style pin-on cloth diaper that fit children ages 9 to 15. Ive heard people mention the company V.I.P. Products (which I used to get a catalog from in the 80s, but I don't remember whether or not they carried youth pin-ons and plastic pants).There's a company today called Adultclothdiaper.com, also known as All Together Enterprises that makes pin-on style prefolds and plastic pants that fit ages 10 and up. Finally, I think Comco Manufacturing made youth size plastic pants in the 80s and 90s if memory serves me correct.

I was just wondering where parents purchased their pin-ons and plastic pants back in the day and did they use mainly flats or prefolds to manage the bedwetting. I collect old Montgomery Ward, Sears, J.C Penny, and similar catalogs but they mainly had pull-on plastic pants with cloth liners,snap-on style plastic pants with cloth liners (the kind I wore to bed), and rubber and plastic bloomers. Plus some had adult size cloth diapers that fastened with pins. I suppose many parents went to pharmacies and medical supply stores and had to special order these items. Any thoughts? What did you wear to bed?

 

[dpcare]

baby diapers and plastic pants could be bought at most department stores and mail-order catalogs, adult diapers and plastic pants could also be bought through mail-order catalogs as well as hospital supply stores and you could buy cloth diaper fabric at fabric stores

 

[diapernh]

Back in the late 90’s and early 2000’s I remember VIP products, they made the Berber style plastic pants…. I thought they were thin and cheaply made…. Not cheap for a college student.

I bought many pairs from Comco, even had a pair of disney print pants, their pants always had a nice wide waistband and leg bands

I also bought cloth diapers from babykins

 

[Zeke]

Cloth baby diapers and plastic pants were ubiquitous in those days (‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s), and you could get them anywhere from five and dime stores to many department and even grocery stores. These stores also had diapers and supplies for bed wetting prepubescents and sometimes for adolescents. Infant, toddler, prepubescent, adolescent, and adult incontinence supplies were available from Sears and Roebuck, Montgomery Wards, and J.C. Penny’s mail order catalogs and stores. There were ads placed in magazines targeted at parents of bed wetters as well for ic supplies. An indication of how universally cloth diapers and vinyl or rubber pants were used was the clotheslines throughout the towns and countryside that were often full of these items. My wife and I cloth diapered our children with hand me down diapers and supplies her cousin gave us as she was sure that she wasn’t going to be in a position to need them any further. This experience, as well as my being cloth diapered as a baby, led me to try cloth diapers for my dual ic which has worked well and helped keep my costs controlled.

 

[dogboy]

My mom often shopped at Woolworth's and I can remember walking down the diaper isle and wanting to be back in diapers and plastic pants. They used to sell them in grocery stores, pharmacies and even Kmart's. I suspect they sold them at the 5 & 10 cent store. That was a real name for a well known chain store in the '50s.

 

[Cottontail]

I was born in Seattle in 1976. For the first year my parents used Seattle's "Baby Diaper Service." That's its actual name, it still exists, and I even visited it a few years ago. Prefolds are still their thing. I love that. Mom then bought several dozen Curity prefolds, and those are what my sister and I wore until we were potty trained. I'm not sure exactly where they came from, but I'd be willing to bet it was Sears.

 

[Honeywell6180]

I was born in Seattle in 1976. For the first year my parents used Seattle's "Baby Diaper Service." That's its actual name, it still exists, and I even visited it a few years ago. Prefolds are still their thing. I love that. Mom then bought several dozen Curity prefolds, and those are what my sister and I wore until we were potty trained. I'm not sure exactly where they came from, but I'd be willing to bet it was Sears.

These days, prefolds are considerably thicker than the ones used back in the day, with 4-8-4 layering and a twill-weave gauze cotton fabric. Green Mountain Diapers is one brand, and so is OsoCozy. Plus, there are several other brands with most of their products coming out of Pakistan. They are still used by diaper services, with a diaper cover that fits babies up to 30 pounds.

In very limited cases, an adult may be able to get a diaper service to deliver to them. However, a diaper service would never set up an account unless the individual has a legitimate need for their services, and has the willingness to purchase their own diapers. And those diapers will need to be washed at home before they go back to the diaper service to be reconditioned.

As for where parents used to purchase cloth diapers, plastic pants, and pins: Just about any department store, grocery store, or specialty store would carry them. They could even be found at just about any clothing store that would serve families. Back in those days, buying cloth diapers was often seen as questionable. I remember buying a package of 20" x 40" flat-folds at a Montgomery Wards, with the clerk asking: "Are you looking forward to your new one, or do you just need more diapers????"

Times sure are a lot different now than they were then, because these days people assume that someone who buys a box of Pampers either has a kid, or they have some type of medical need and will keep their mouth shut!

 

[MikeDJ]

As A child I was put into Pampers. They were all the rage in the 70s and most parents at that time were using them fully. My mom did though put a pair of plastic pants over the diaper especially at night as an added precaution. I seem to think my mom got the Pampers at the supermarket or the neighborhood pharmacy. The plastic pants were from those childrens stores which usually each neighborhood had one. I remember my mom going there with my grandma often because I had siblings so there were many children to buy for. I remember the rack that had packs of them I remember the Gerber ones in particular. I also remember the section that had all sorts of frilly rhumba panties. I secretly loved those panties as a child although I knew there was no way I could ever wear one! So I would sneak peeks at the rack of them in the baby girl section.

 

[Cottontail]

These days, prefolds are considerably thicker than the ones used back in the day, with 4-8-4 layering and a twill-weave gauze cotton fabric. Green Mountain Diapers is one brand, and so is OsoCozy. Plus, there are several other brands with most of their products coming out of Pakistan. They are still used by diaper services, with a diaper cover that fits babies up to 30 pounds.

The evolution of prefolds is interesting. Curity was doing pretty fancy stuff with their prefolds in the late 70's and early 80's. They had specially-made fabrics with different thread counts for the center panels and sides, special batting material for the center panels that was intended to improve absorbency, and some of the last prefolds Curity made even had stay-dry fabrics on one side. Versus all that, the stuff being sold today seems positively stone-age. And yet... There's no denying that a Green Mountain Diapers prefold is way, way more absorbent than those old Curity prefolds. There's just so much more bulk to them for any given size.

But I do still love stuffing my larger diapers with Curity. It definitely takes me back.

Mom generally double-diapered us for bedtime. That was a pretty normal thing to do back then. One prefold wasn't enough. With the newer prefolds, it's a lot less necessary, especially with all the different sizes that are available. Most of Curity's diapers were one-size, so you had a bit too much diaper on your newborn, and not enough on your older toddler.

Anyway, it warms my inner little's heart to see diaper services still doing their thing and still using prefolds. When I hear the word "diaper," the first image that comes to mind is a prefold fastened with ducky pins.

 

[Zappafan66]

Thanks for all your replies. I wanted to follow-up on my original post. I was actually curious to know where parents purchased pin-on cloth diapers and plastic pants for older children and teenagers that wet the bed from the 50s through the 90s.

As mentioned I looked through some old Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogs from the 50s on and they carried bloomers and plastic snap on pants but I was trying to find out a few things: a.)Did they make pin-on style cloth diapers and plastic pants for older children and teenagers that wet the bed from the 50s - 90s. b.)Did parents use flats, prefolds, or both and c.)Where did parents purchase them - Did they special order them through pharmacies, order them through medical supply stores, etc. I also remember Edley Enterprises making a pin-on prefold diaper called the "Thirsty Ones" that was a bedwetting diaper that fit children 9 to 15 plus they also made youth size plastic pants. That was in the 80s and 90s.

 

[dpcare]

 

[Calico]

You could still buy them in department stores and store catalogues and there were cloth diaper services then. There still are cloth diaper services but check your area. I know Portland has one here. But it costs money.

 

[Lyric]

My mom used both Curity flat 40X21 cloth diapers and Birdseye 36X36 cloth diapers. Neither were prefolds, but flat pinned on diapers and were available almost anywhere during the 50's and early 60's. Drug stores, grocery stores, and department stores sold them. I stopped wetting my bed at 17 in 1963. I'd been wearing the 40X21 Curity diaper for a long time and they fit fine. But they were flats, not pre-folds. I don't recall mom ever using a prefold diaper.

 

[dpcare]

fabric store have cloth diaper material by the yard

 

[foxkits]

My mom went to Woolworth to get the curity flats cloth diapers and Playtex toddler plastic pants when she put me back into diapers in first or second grade. SomeTime around 966or1967.

 

[Eclectic]

Thanks for all your replies. I wanted to follow-up on my original post. I was actually curious to know where parents purchased pin-on cloth diapers and plastic pants for older children and teenagers

Sears and JC Penny catalogues had them.

 

[Rita]

Do to a tight family budget back then, I was put in cloth diapers & plastic panties.

 

[Rodgers]

I remember going to a local department store when I was 5 or so to buy plastic pants for bed wetting. My mother asked the salesperson and she went to a drawer along the wall where they kept them. As for the diapers there must have been some left over from pre toilet training that still fit.