Marion Donovan
Marion O'Brien Donovan was an American inventor and entrepreneur. Recognized as one of the era's most prominent female inventors, she secured a total of 20 patents for her creations. In 1946, she created a reusable, impermeable diaper cover. Ultimately, this led to the invention of the disposable paper diaper, which was eventually commercialized by Victor Mills, the creator of Pampers. Donovan also innovated various solutions around the home and was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2015.
Early life and education
Donovan was born on October 15, 1917, in South Bend, Indiana, to Anne and Miles O'Brien. Following the death of her mother in 1925, Donovan was parented by her father. With his identical twin brother John, Miles O'Brien ran the South Bend Lathe Words manufacturing plant. Donovan's father and uncle were inventors as well, credited with inventing products such as the "South Bend lathe" for developing automobile gears and gun barrels.At the age of 22, Donovan earned her B.A. in English from Rosemont College in Pennsylvania. Nineteen years later, as one of the three women in her graduating class, Donovan earned a master's degree in architecture from Yale University.
After graduation, Donovan was employed as an Assistant Beauty Editor at Vogue magazine in New York. Eventually, she resigned to start a family with leather importer James F. Donovan, and moved to Westport, Connecticut. She had three children with Donovan. She divorced Donovan in the 1970s and married John F. Butler in 1981.
Invention of the "Boater"
In the late 1940s, Donovan was a young mother determined to find a more efficient way of dealing with the problem of soggy cloth diapers, so she began experimenting in her attic with various materials and this eventually led her to repurpose a lightweight shower curtain to craft a waterproof diaper cover. She called this invention the "Boater", and this design got rid of the standard rubber pants of the era by using breathable yet leak resistant fabric. This design also allowed for snap fasteners instead of safety pins, reducing risk of accidental pricks. Initially, there was skepticism from manufacturers about the design, however, the Boater quickly gained popularity after Donovan approached several department stores to showcase its benefits for parents. Thus, sales increased, revealing a strong market demand for a product that greatly reduced laundry loads and improved infant hygiene.In 1951, Donovan sold the patent for her diaper cover for $1 million. This invention paved the way for subsequent developments in leak proof diaper technology. The major companies, such as Procter & Gamble, later evolved Donovan's core idea to produce fully disposable and more absorbent diapers.