Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Marion O'Brien Donovan Papers
Dodd, Sharon Donovan
Donovan, Christine
Donovan, James F. Jr., Dr.
Donovan, Marion (Marion O'Brien), 1917-1998 (inventor)
Rabinow, Jacob, 1910-
Walters, Barbara
NMAH.AC.0721
Archival Resource Key
7 Cubic feet
17 boxes, 2 map folders
1949-1999
Correspondence, patents, photographs, newspaper clippings, and subject files about various inventors and ideas. Collection documents women inventors, American culture, 1950s-1970s, and products designed for women and the home. Donovan's papers offer a near complete invention record, including both successes and failures, as well as patent and trademark correspondence.
English
.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into 4 series.
Series 1: Personal Papers and Biographical Material, 1999
Series 2: The Boater, 1949-1999
Series 3: Other Ideas and Inventions, 1941-1993
Series 4: DentaLoop, 1979-1996
Scope and Contents
The Donovan papers offer a near complete invention record, including both successes and failures, and include correspondence, photographs, patents, newspaper clippings, and subject files about various inventions and ideas. This collection documents direct marketing techniques for products designed especially for women and the home. It may be useful for researchers interested in women inventors and entrepreneurs, American culture from the 1950s through the 1970s, and advertising history.
Series 1: Personal Papers and Biographical Materials, 1917-1999
Subseries 1.1: Biographical Materials, 1917-1999 includes newspaper clippings, biographical materials, and memorabilia relating to Marion Donovan's early life, family, and social activities. Note: Original clippings have been photocopied, and researcher copies are available.
Subseries 1.2: Magazine Publications, 1953-1999 includes original magazines which featured articles on Marion Donovan.
Series 2: The Boater, 1949-1995
Includes United States and foreign patents, notes, clippings, correspondence, photos, press releases and scrapbooks that document the invention of the Boater diaper cover.
Series 3: Other Ideas and Inventions, 1941-1993
Subseries 3.1: Marion Donovan's Subject Files, 1941-1995 are arranged chronologically and contain advertisements, articles, correspondence, sketches, notes, United States and foreign patents, photo materials, press releases, publications, and some artifacts documenting her ideas and inventions.
Subseries 3.2: Barbara Walters' Television Special, Not For Women Only, [1975] features an episode highlighting "Inventors and Invention," with a panel that includes Marion Donovan, Jacob Rabinow, and Henry Kloss, demonstrating their inventions.
Series 4: Dentaloop, 1979-1996
Subseries 4.1: Manufacturing Files, 1979-1996 contains files relating to the manufacture and packaging of DentaLoop, and includes photo materials, correspondence with various manufacturers including Johnson & Johnson, clippings, craft materials, and reports.
Subseries 4.2: Patents and Patent History, 1985-1996 contains files kept by Marion Donovan documenting the patent history of her and others' dental inventions.
Subseries 4.3: Marketing Files, 1989-1995 includes a substantial mailing list compiled over the years by Marion Donovan Associates, various order forms, advertising drafts, press releases, correspondence with Procter & Gamble, photo materials, personalized questionnaire responses, and a "How-To" videotape demonstration.
Preferred Citation
Marion O'Brien Donovan Papers, 1949-1996, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Related Materials
Artifacts were donated to the National Museum of American History in March of 2000. The "Boater" diaper cover (1949), a key chain bracelet, and "The Zippity-Do" (1970) were donated to the American Costume Collection of Social History Collection (now Division of Cultural and Community Life). "DentaLoop" (1993) materials were donated to the Science, Medicine, and Society Division (now Division of Medicine and Science).
Biographical / Historical
Twentieth-century inventor, Marion O'Brien Donovan (1917-1998), made a career of designing solutions to everyday, domestic problems. Her career is framed by her invention in 1949 of the "Boater," a diaper cover made of surplus parachute nylon, and her invention in 1993 of DentaLoop, individual precut circles of two-ply dental floss. As an inventor and entrepreneur, Donovan created products that addressed problems in personal health, beauty, and household needs.
Marion O'Brien was born into a family of inventors on October 15, 1917, in South Bend, Indiana. Marion's father, Miles O'Brien, with his identical twin brother John, developed an industrial lathe for manufacturing gun barrels and founded the South Bend Lathe Works in 1906. After her mother died when she was seven, Marion spent a majority of her time at her father's factory, even inventing a "tooth powder" while in elementary school. She graduated with a B.A. in English from Rosemont College in 1939, and worked briefly for both Harper's Bazaar and Vogue. In 1942, she married James F. Donovan and moved to Westport, Connecticut.
A Connecticut housewife and mother of two in 1946, Donovan was unsatisfied with the options available to her to keep her babies dry. To her, cloth diapers "served more as a wick than a sponge," and rubber pants assured a nasty case of diaper rash. Looking for a way to hold the dampness in without keeping air out, she experimented by clipping a panel from her shower curtain, sewing a moisture-proof diaper cover, and replacing safety pins with snaps. Three years later, she introduced the "Boater." Donovan's attempts to sell her idea to leading manufacturers failed, but her product became an instant sensation and commercial success when she began selling the Boater at Saks Fifth Avenue in 1949. In 1951, Donovan sold both her company, Donovan Enterprises, and her diaper patents to children's clothing manufacturer Keko Corporation, for one million dollars.
Marion Donovan's interest in design and invention manifested itself in a Master's degree in architecture which she received from Yale University in 1958, at age forty-one. According to her obituary, she was one of three women in her graduating class. In the decades that followed, Donovan would go on to invent "The Ledger Check," a combined check and record-keeping book; "The Big Hang-Up," a garment hanger and closet organizer; and "The Zippity-Do," an elasticized zipper pull.
Marion Donovan was involved in every aspect of product development, serving as creator, designer, manufacturer, and marketer. Often, designing the product also meant designing the machinery that could construct the product to her unique specifications. While working on the development of DentaLoop, for example, she and second husband, John Butler, traveled to a factory in Germany to explore floss-producing machinery ideas. Donovan also went to great lengths to market her floss product. Between the years 1991 and 1995, in collaboration with daughter Christine, she launched her largest promotional campaign, marketing DentaLoop directly to hundreds of dental professionals and pharmacists all over the country. Always envisioning improvements, she continued to correspond with companies specializing in oral hygiene products until her husband suffered a stroke, and she focused her attentions on caring for him. Following his death in July, Marion O'Brien Donovan Butler died four months later on November 4, 1998.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Ms. Donovan's daughters, Christine Donovan and Sharon Donovan Dodd, and son, Dr. James F. Donovan, Jr., donated the collection to the Archives Center, March 2000.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Lauren Kata, 2000.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Advertising mail
advertising
Birth certificates
Clippings -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Color prints (photographs)
Diapers
Dental hygiene -- 20th century
Dye diffusion transfer prints
Inventions -- 20th century
Inventors -- 20th century
Marriage certificates
Patent drawings -- 20th century
Photographs -- Black-and-white photoprints -- Silver gelatin -- 19th-20th century
Photographs -- Black-and-white negatives -- Acetate film -- 1900-2000
Publications
Publicity photographs
Scrapbooks -- 20th century
Sketches
Trademarks
Videotapes -- 1970-1980
Women in advertising
Women architects
Women inventors -- 20th century
Women in marketing
Women in technology
Women inventors
Keko Corporation.
Saks Fifth Avenue.
Personal Papers and Biographical Materials
Series 1
Archival Resource Key
1917-1999
Personal Papers and Biographical Materials
1.1
Archival Resource Key
1917-1999
Biographical Articles and Obituaries, 1939-1999
Archival Resource Key
1
1
Biographical Articles and Obituaries, 1939-1999
Early Personal Papers, Birth and Marriage Certificates, 1917-1982
Archival Resource Key
1
2
Resumes and Correspondence with Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, 1939-1941
Archival Resource Key
1
3
Resumes and Correspondence with Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, 1939-1941
Resumes and Certificates, 1946-1976
Archival Resource Key
1
4
General Patent information filed by Christine Donovan, 1998
Archival Resource Key
1
5
Miscellaneous Personal Papers and Stationery, 1969-1985
Archival Resource Key
1
6
Miscellaneous Personal Papers and Stationery, 1969-1985
Article: Zalmon Wakeman House, 1989 (House in which Donovan family spent time, 1950s
Archival Resource Key
1
7
Original Clippings, 1939-1998
Archival Resource Key
19
1
Yale Diploma, 1958
Archival Resource Key
17
1
Magazine Publications
1.2
Archival Resource Key
1953-1999
Today's Woman, January, 1953
Archival Resource Key
1
8
Today's Woman, January, 1953
Money, August, 1973
Archival Resource Key
1
9
Good Housekeeping, September, 1984
Archival Resource Key
1
10
Mature Outlook, September/October, 1987
Archival Resource Key
1
11
Mature Outlook, September/October, 1987
Glamour, January, 1988
Archival Resource Key
1
12
Spotlight, May, 1997
Archival Resource Key
1
13
Newsweek Extra, Winter, 1997-1998
Archival Resource Key
1
14
U.S. News & World Report, August 17-24, 1998
Archival Resource Key
1
15
People Weekly, December 7, 1998
Archival Resource Key
1
16
New York Times Magazine, January 3, 1999
Archival Resource Key
1
17
Your Company, February/March, 1999
Archival Resource Key
1
18
Metro Santa Cruz, March 10-17, 1999
Archival Resource Key
19
3
The Boater
Series 2
Archival Resource Key
1949-1995
Patents, 1949-1952
Archival Resource Key
2
1
Patents, 1949-1952
Advertisements/Clippings, "The Boater," 1949-1952
Archival Resource Key
2
2
Press Releases, 1949-1951
Archival Resource Key
2
3
Correspondence: Saks Fifth Avenue, Customer Orders, 1949-1954
Archival Resource Key
2
4
Correspondence: Saks Fifth Avenue, Customer Orders, 1949-1954
Advertisements/Clippings, "Competition," 1951-1953
Archival Resource Key
2
5
Vogue Pattern Book, 1951
Archival Resource Key
2
6
Vogue Pattern Book, 1951
Oversize Laminated Advertisements/Clippings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1949-1951
1
Oversize Laminated Advertisements/Clippings
Archival Resource Key
circa 1949-1951
2
Boater scrapbook 1, 1949-1951
Archival Resource Key
18
3
Boater scrapbook 1, 1949-1951
Boater scrapbook 2, 1949-1951
Archival Resource Key
18
4
Boater scrapbook 1, 1949-1951 (NOT FOR RESEARCHER USE)
Archival Resource Key
18
5
Boater scrapbook 1, 1949-1951 (NOT FOR RESEARCHER USE)
Boater scrapbook 2, 1949-1951 (NOT FOR RESEARCHER USE)
Archival Resource Key
18
6
Boater scrapbook 2, 1949-1951 (NOT FOR RESEARCHER USE)
Photographs, 1949-1951
Archival Resource Key
1949 - 1951
6
1
Photographs, 1949-1951
Advertisements and Clippings, ca. 1949-1951 (NOT FOR RESEARCHER USE)
Archival Resource Key
6
2-3
Advertisements and Clippings, ca. 1949-1951 (NOT FOR RESEARCHER USE)
Oversize Advertisements and Clippings, ca. 1949-1951
Archival Resource Key
19
5
Correspondence: Procter & Gamble, 1995
Archival Resource Key
14
6
Other Ideas and Inventions
Series 3
Archival Resource Key
1941-1995
14
Marion Donovan's Subject Files
3.1
Archival Resource Key
1941-1995
Discussion of Patents, 1995
Archival Resource Key
3
1
Key Bracelet, 1941
Archival Resource Key
3
2
"Facial Tissue Materials," 1951-1968
Archival Resource Key
3
3
"Facial Tissue Materials," 1951-1968
"Facial Tissue," 1951-1968, Artifacts
Archival Resource Key
21
"Facial Tissue," 1951-1968, Artifacts
"Dispensing Container for Flowable Material," 1955-1957
Archival Resource Key
3
4
Nursing Bottle Marker, 1956
Archival Resource Key
3
5
"Incredible Tulle," 1957-1982
Archival Resource Key
3
6
"Tea Bag Envelope," 1961-1981
Archival Resource Key
3
7
"Tea Bag Envelope," 1961-1981
"Shoe Box/Storage Container," 1962
Archival Resource Key
3
8
"Two-Way Envelope," 1965-1981: Clippings and Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
3
9
"Two-Way Envelope," 1965-1981: Correspondence and Patents
Archival Resource Key
3
10
"Two-Way Envelope," 1965-1981: Correspondence and Patents
"Two-Way Envelope," 1965-1981: Craft Materials
Archival Resource Key
3
11
"Two-Way Envelope," 1965-1981: Craft Materials
"Two-Way Envelope," 1965-1981: Craft Materials and Samples
Archival Resource Key
3
12
"Index Cards/Index," 1966-1985
Archival Resource Key
3
13
"The Ledger Check," 1969-1983: Clippings, Correspondence, Notes
Archival Resource Key
4
1
"The Ledger Check," 1969-1983: Clippings, Correspondence, Notes
"The Ledger Check," 1969-1983: Patents
Archival Resource Key
4
2
"The Ledger Check," 1969-1983: Artifacts
Archival Resource Key
21
"The Big Hang-Up," 1969-1988: Notes, Patents, Patent Searches
Archival Resource Key
4
3
"The Big Hang-Up," 1969-1988: Notes, Patents, Patent Searches
"The Big Hang-Up," 1969-1988: Clippings, Correspondence, Customer Orders
Archival Resource Key
4
4
"The Big Hang-Up," 1969-1988: Clippings, Correspondence, Customer Orders
"The Big Hang-Up," 1969-1988: Photos
Archival Resource Key
6
6
"The Big Hang-Up," 1969-1988: Photos
"The Big Hang-Up," 1969-1988: Photos
Archival Resource Key
18
1-2
"The Big Hang-Up," 1969-1988: Mock-Up Photo Board for Ads
Archival Resource Key
17
3
"Zippity-Do," 1970-71
Archival Resource Key
4
5
"Zippity-Do," 1970-71
Hair Products Search, 1972
Archival Resource Key
4
6
"Turtling-A-Ling," 1972-1991: Clippings and Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
4
7
"Turtling-A-Ling," 1972-1991: Photos
Archival Resource Key
6
7
"Towel Holder," 1977
Archival Resource Key
5
1
"Umbrella," 1979-1983
Archival Resource Key
5
2
"The Snoozer," 1979
Archival Resource Key
5
3
"Handbags," 1980: Clippings
Archival Resource Key
5
4
"Handbags," 1980: Oversize Magazine Clipping for Material Example
Archival Resource Key
19
4
"Raincoat/Rainwear," 1980
Archival Resource Key
5
5
"Weight and See," 1980
Archival Resource Key
5
6
Calendar/Diary Idea, 1985
Archival Resource Key
5
7
Calendar/Diary Idea, 1985
"Bar Harbour," [1993?]
Archival Resource Key
5
8
General Information and Idea Folder, 1969-1997
Archival Resource Key
5
9
General Sketches and Doodles, 1980-1988
Archival Resource Key
5
11
Barbara Walters' Television Special
3.2
Archival Resource Key
1975
Not For Women Only, Barbara Walters' Television Special, 1975: 3/4" U-Matic Tape, original copy
Archival Resource Key
1 Videocassettes (U-matic)
Poor quality
20
OV 721.1
Not For Women Only, Barbara Walters' Television Special, 1975: two ½" VHS Tapes, researcher copies
Archival Resource Key
2 Videocassettes (VHS)
Fair to poor quality.
20
RV 721.1-2
Existence and Location of Copies
Digitized in 2018. Available through the Smithsonian Institution Digital Asset Management System. See repository for detail.
Scope and Contents
Digitized from 1/2" VHS. Majority of the footage is poor quality.
Not For Women Only, Barbara Walters' Television Special, 1975: Correspondence
Archival Resource Key
5
10
Dentaloop
Series 4
Archival Resource Key
1979-1996
Manufacturing and Packaging Files
4.1
Archival Resource Key
1979-1996
Manufacturing Files: "Yarn," 1979-1993
Archival Resource Key
7
1
Manufacturing Files: Manufacturing Report, 1981-1982
Archival Resource Key
7
2
Manufacturing Files: Trip to Germany, 1989-1990
Archival Resource Key
7
3
Manufacturing Files: Trip to Germany: Photos, 1989-1990
Archival Resource Key
6
7
Manufacturing Files: Correspondence with JVM Industries, 1990-1996
Archival Resource Key
6
8
Manufacturing Files: Miscellaneous Craft Materials
Archival Resource Key
undated
6
9
Manufacturing Files: Miscellaneous Craft Materials
Manufacturing Files: Correspondence, Notes, Sketches, 1989-1992
Archival Resource Key
7
4
Manufacturing Files: Correspondence, Drawings, Photos, 1993-1995
Archival Resource Key
7
5
Packaging Files: 1991
Archival Resource Key
7
6
Packaging Files: 1991
Packaging Files: Barcode File, 1992
Archival Resource Key
7
7
Packaging Files: New DentaLoop/FlossLoop Johnson&Johnson Packaging, 1996
Archival Resource Key
7
8
Packaging Files: Photos, New DentaLoop/FlossLoop Johnson&Johnson Packaging, 1996
Archival Resource Key
6
10
Packaging Files: New DentaLoop/FlossLoop Johnson&Johnson Packaging, 1996: Computer Diskette
Archival Resource Key
6
11
Patents and Patent History
4.2
Archival Resource Key
1985-1996
U.S. Patent, 1985
Archival Resource Key
8
1
U.S. Patent, 1985
U.S. Patent File History, 1989
Archival Resource Key
8
2
U.S. Patent File History, 1989
Archival Resource Key
8
3
"Improved Floss" Patent File, 1996
Archival Resource Key
8
4
"Improved Floss" Patent File, 1996
Patent Search: Other Dental Floss Patents, 1980-1989
Archival Resource Key
8
5
Patent Search: Other Dental Floss Patents, 1960-1994
Archival Resource Key
8
6
Marketing Files
4.3
Archival Resource Key
1989-1996
8
Articles/Clippings, "DentaLoop," 1993-1994
Archival Resource Key
9
1
Press Releases and Drafts, 1991-1993
Archival Resource Key
9
2
Drawings, ca. 1991-1995
Archival Resource Key
17
2
Brooks Rogers Incorporated, Press Release, 1994
Archival Resource Key
9
3
DentaLoop Photos, ca. 1991-1993
Archival Resource Key
9
4
DentaLoop Photos, ca. 1991-1993
Articles/Clippings, "Oral Hygiene," ca. 1989-1994
Archival Resource Key
9
5
Oral Hygiene Publications, 1994-95
Archival Resource Key
17
5
Greater New York Dental Meeting, 1992
Archival Resource Key
10
1
Greater New York Dental Meeting, 1993
Archival Resource Key
10
2
Photos: Greater New York Dental Meeting, 1993
Archival Resource Key
6
12
Greater New York Dental Meeting, 1994
Archival Resource Key
10
3
Various (Blank) Order Forms, ca. 1991-1995
Archival Resource Key
11
1
Various (Blank) Order Forms, ca. 1991-1995
Collected Business Cards, Dental Professionals
Archival Resource Key
11
2
Blank Questionnaire Order Forms, September 17-22, 1992
Archival Resource Key
11
3
Blank Questionnaire Order Forms, September 24-25, 1992
Archival Resource Key
11
4
Blank Questionnaire Order Forms, October 5, 1992
Archival Resource Key
11
5
Mailing List Information, 1992-1994
Archival Resource Key
11
6
Checked Mailing Lists, 1991
Archival Resource Key
11
7
Checked Mailing Lists, 1992
Archival Resource Key
11
8
Phone Mailing List, 1992
Archival Resource Key
11
9
Master Binder Mailing List, 1991-93
Archival Resource Key
11
10
1991-92 Card Index: Mailing List, "Before May 26"
Archival Resource Key
15
1991-92 Card Index: Mailing List, "After May 26"
Archival Resource Key
16
Typed List of Responses to DentaLoop, ca. 1991-1993
Archival Resource Key
11
11
Manufacturer's Representative Agreement, 1991
Archival Resource Key
11
12
Consumer Viewpoint Interview, October 1989
Archival Resource Key
12
1
Correspondence with Johnson&Johnson, 1989
Archival Resource Key
12
2
Dental Merchandise Sales Report, 1991
Archival Resource Key
12
3
Letter to Art Athens, WCBS Radio, September, 1992
Archival Resource Key
12
4
Correspondence with Flagship Health Systems, October, 1992
Archival Resource Key
12
5
Correspondence with Cumberland Neighborhood Family Care Center, March, 1993
Archival Resource Key
12
6
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, December, 1991
Archival Resource Key
12
7
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, December, 1991
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, February 19-June 11, 1992
Archival Resource Key
12
8
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, June 12-27, 1992
Archival Resource Key
12
9
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, July 1-8, 1992
Archival Resource Key
12
10
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, July 14-29, 1992
Archival Resource Key
12
11
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, August 6-September 3, 1992
Archival Resource Key
12
12
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, September 14-October 1, 1992
Archival Resource Key
13
1
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, October, 1992
Archival Resource Key
13
2
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, November 5-27, 1992
Archival Resource Key
13
3
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, January-July, 1993
Archival Resource Key
13
4
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, 1994
Archival Resource Key
14
1
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, 1994
Archival Resource Key
14
2
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, 1994
Archival Resource Key
14
3
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, 1994
Archival Resource Key
14
4
Personalized Questionnaire Responses, 1994
Archival Resource Key
14
5
Correspondence with Procter&Gamble, 1995
Archival Resource Key
14
6
Orders, Pricing, and Income and Expenses File, 1995
Archival Resource Key
14
7
DentaLoop Demonstration by MOD, September 29, 1991, (reference)
Archival Resource Key
20
RV 721.3
DentaLoop Demonstration by MOD, September 29, 1991, (original)
Archival Resource Key
20
OV 721.2