How P&G engineered Pampers from 1% of the diaper market in 1957 to 42% by 1973, solving manufacturing, pricing, and materials problems along the way.
Key Takeaways
Victor Mills at P&G proposed disposable diapers after P&G acquired Charmin in 1957; first Dallas field test failed due to heat rash from plastic pants.
Initial Pampers price was 10 cents per diaper – too expensive vs. diaper services at 5 cents – requiring years of production engineering to hit 5.5 cents.
P&G built a block-long continuous-process machine running 400 diapers/minute; mid-1980s switch to superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) cut bulk by 50%, halving trucking, storage, and shelf costs.
Kimberly-Clark survived where Scott, J&J, and others failed by redesigning Huggies with elasticized crotch and refastenable tape, then blindsiding P&G with Pull-Ups in 1989.
Puerto Rico showed disposables benefit low-income households lacking washing machines – adoption there outpaced wealthier continental US markets.
Hacker News Comment Review
Discussion is light and anecdotal; no substantive technical or business debate about manufacturing, SAPs, or market dynamics from the article.
Commenters fixate on a minor detail: Dr. Spock’s 1946 advice to use a knife to scrape soiled diapers, which one commenter flagged as possibly the earliest written reference to a “poop knife.”
Notable Comments
@cogogo: Notes bamboo diapers as a modern alternative and flags a condo trustee demanding residents scrape diapers before disposal – an echo of Spock-era habits.
