Over the years, the amount of time you needed to wait decreased, but the overall simplicity wasn’t on par with what we have today. Here a look back at the evolution of home pregnancy tests!
What some of the first vintage home pregnancy test kits looked like (1970s)
Vintage EPT (Early Pregnancy Test): March 1978
The E.P.T. In-Home Early Pregnancy Test is a private little revolution any woman can easily buy at her drugstore.
It is highly accurate. Millions of women today in 13 European countries use this testing method. Now its high accuracy rate has been verified here in America by doctors who clinically confirmed the results of tests performed by women themselves in their own homes.
That means you can confidently do this easy pregnancy test yourself — privately — right at home without waiting for appointments or delays. That simple difference is the result of many years of costly research. And it’s worth every penny.
At last, early knowledge of pregnancy belongs easily and accurately to us all. It’s simple. Fast. And there is no risk, no physical danger whatever, in doing it, because a sample of your first morning urine is all that’s needed for the test.
As soon as you become pregnant, your body starts to produce a special hormone HCG. Starting on the 9th day after the date you expected your menstrual period to begin, there should be sufficient concentration of HCG in your urine to give an accurate reading of pregnancy.
And that’s all there is to it. Follow the test directions with care, and three drops of urine can tell you quickly and easily what you want to know.
If you get a positive reading, you can assume you are pregnant. Such positive pregnancy readings in our clinical tests proved to be 97% accurate. If your reading is negative, your overdue period should begin soon. If a week passes and you still have not started menstruating, you should take a second E.P.T. test because there may not have been sufficient HCG in your urine at the time of the first test, or you may have miscalculated your period.
Negative readings on a first test are about 80% accurate; on repeat testing one week later they are 91% accurate. If your second test result is still negative and your period has not begun, we urge you to consult your doctor as soon as possible.
E.P.T. is very simple to do, but it is important that you follow the instructions carefully to insure an accurate reading.
E.P.T. Early Pregnancy Test gives women new power — the power of time to help control the quality of their pregnancies. The first 60 days are critical in fetal development. Improper nutrition, cigarettes, alcohol, even commonly used household medications can be harmful in these crucial first 60 days before most women even know for sure that they ore pregnant. Now with E.P.T., you can know.
Now, when you call your doctor, you have the results of your test to report. And time is on your side at last.
Pregnant? Compare in-home tests. You’ll choose Predictor. (1979)
EPT – The first home pregnancy test kits with test tube result (October 1979)
e.p.t. is the only in-home pregnancy test proven accurate by more than a million women. (Results in two hours.)
Close-up look at vintage lab setup for the first home pregnancy test kits in the 1970s
Instructions for droppers and test tubes for the first home pregnancy test kits
Vintage early home pregnancy test: Positive and negative results
Daisy 2 pregnancy test kit: August 1982
No other pregnancy test gives you all this: 1 hour test time (most home tests require 2 hours). — A toll-free number so you can talk to our registered nurse to ask a question… get advice and counsel. — Our double-check system with 2 tests in every kit so you can reassure yourself as to the accuracy of your test result.
EPT test-tube home pregnancy test kits (1981)
Warner-Lambert made one of the first home pregnancy test kits (1982)
First Response home diagnostic kit (1985)
Am I pregnant? New First Response. The truth in 20 minutes.
New First Response Pregnancy Test is the most sensitive ever perfected. It’s based on breakthrough technology from the makers of Tampax tampons.
The test is simple to do and easy to read. You’re pregnant if the liquid turns a distinct blue, and not pregnant if it remains clear. Results cannot be affected by vibration or movement as they can with ordinary tests.
Vintage color-changing liquid pregnancy tests (1987)
“Darling, of course I’m sure. I just did my First Response pregnancy test.”
“But how can you be so sure, so soon?”
“Darling, with First Response, you don’t have to wait days or weeks to find out the truth anymore. I just did the test, and today’s the day I’m due! It took only minutes, and it’s as accurate as any lab. And I know I can rely on my result. Because First Response is simple to do, and so easy to read. I’m pregnant if the liquid turns blue; not pregnant if it stays clear. That’s it. There’s no second-guessing.”
EPT Early Pregnancy Test TV commercial (1984)
This television ad for color-changing liquid pregnancy tests features actress Dana Delaney
Vintage First Response Ovulation Predictors (1987)
When your heart’s set on having a baby… First Response Ovulation Predictor Test predicts the day you’re most able to become pregnant
First Response can be a big help when you want to have your baby. That’s because there’s only one day in the month a woman can become pregnant — the day she ovulates.
First Response predicts that day in advance, so you and your husband know when to try. This is very important if you’re having difficulty conceiving a baby, or don’t want to spend months trying.
Michael Bascones is living proof… FIRST RESPONSE ovulation predictor can help women become pregnant (1987)
Chemistry-set-like pregnancy test kits available in 1987
EPT plus, QTest and Fact pregnancy test kits
First Response with results in 10 minutes (1988)
