The science behind it started in a government lab. In 1972, Judith Vaitukaitis and her colleagues at the National Institutes of Health published a way to measure human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG, the hormone the body makes during pregnancy) without confusing it with a similar hormone called LH. NIH declined to patent the work, reasoning that research paid for with public money belonged in the public domain.
The first kit to reach the US market was e.p.t., which sold for $10 in 1978 (roughly $50 today). It came with a test tube of sheep red blood cells and a medicine dropper, among other things, and the results took two hours. Rival brands like Predictor and Answer arrived later that year.
Accuracy was the weak spot. Mademoiselle reported that the early e.p.t. was right about 97% of the time for positive results but only 80% of the time for negatives. Home testing caught on anyway, and by 1987 roughly a third of American women in one large national survey had tried it.
The move to a stick came from the UK. Unipath, a Unilever subsidiary, launched Clearblue in June 1985 using monoclonal antibodies (a lab technique developed in the 1970s that produces large amounts of one highly specific antibody), which brought the wait down to about 30 minutes. In July 1988, the company released Clearblue One Step, the first commercial lateral flow test, a plastic stick with an absorbent wick that gave a result in three minutes.
American brands were heading the same direction. The 1987 ads collected here show an e.p.t. stick that turned pink for a positive result and Advance’s “Colorstick,” which turned blue, though Advance still asked women to wait 30 minutes. By the early 1990s, one-step sticks were the norm, and the used stick itself became something people saved as a keepsake.
Later changes were mostly about speed and readability. Clearblue introduced a one-minute test in 1996, and in 2003 the FDA approved Clearblue Easy’s digital version, which spelled out “pregnant” or “not pregnant” on a small screen. Underneath, the setup of a wick at one end and a result window in the middle is still the one from 1988.
Below, see pregnancy test kits from 1987 through 1999, including Clearblue’s promise that its test required “no PhD in chemistry,” the QTest strips that could show a positive result in as little as nine minutes and an Accu Test stick from the end of the decade.
Vintage 1980s Clearblue pregnancy test stick kit (1987)
YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO STUDY TO TAKE A PREGNANCY TEST.
A pregnancy test is useless if you can’t figure out how to use it. But test tubes, eye droppers, and a science book others call “the instructions” make most pregnancy tests hard to take.
Clearblue is the first pregnancy test without the complications. A simple three-step kit that uses the latest laboratory technology, and eliminates the laboratory hassles.
It’s designed around a special test stick. So there’s no messy measuring or mixing. No split-second timing. No nerve-racking precision. And no PhD in chemistry required.
All of which makes at a Clearblue over 99% accurate.* As early as the first day of your missed period, a simple color change tells you whether or not youre pregnant.
So get Clearblue. Because it’s time you graduated to a better pregnancy test.
QTest pregnancy test strips (1987)
QTestrm for pregnancy. Because the sooner you know, the better for your baby. Doctors say, the sooner you start prenatal care, the better for your baby. So now, there’s QTest.
QTest…the first step in prenatal care: Its so accurate, doctors use it. And you can use it the day you miss your period.
QTest even shows you’ve done the test right. Error Control Pad remains white to show you’ve done the test right. Result Pad gives positive results as early as nine minutes.
Advance easy-to-read Colorstick pregnancy test sticks (1987)
Now you can be positive… even if it’s negative.
Easy-to-read Colorstick: Only Advance has an easy-to-read Colorstick that shows your results clearly. A color change to blue, as shown above, means you’re pregnant. No color change, as shown below, means you’re not.
Accurate results: Advance is the same kind of pregnancy test that is used in hospitals. What’s more, Advance is simple to use, and it is easy to read. So you can feel extra-confident with the results of your test.
Fast results: Advance gives you fast results. It cuts down waiting time to a mere thirty minutes. Some home pregnancy tests make you wait one to two hours. Advance also lets you test yourself as easy as one day after a missed period.
Toll-free number: If you have any questions about the test, simply call the toll-free number included in each kit. A specially-trained registered nurse will be ready with answers.
Introducing new e.p.t. pregnancy test stick (1987)
If the stick turns pink, you’re pregnant. If it stays white, you’re not. It’s that simple. New e.p.t. stick test is the fast and easy way to find out if you’re pregnant.
ALSO SEE: Vintage ovulation predictor test kits: These home fertility tests from the 80s & 90s were like magic
The e.p.t. pregnancy test stick (1988)
“One day late, and all I can think is – Am I pregnant?”
e.p.t. can tell you if you’re pregnant, or not. All with a simple color change…
There’s the ept test stick. It’s simple to do and easy to read. If the stick turns pink, you’re pregnant. If it stays white, you’re not. It’s that simple. Or, if you prefer, use ept plus. It’s an easy-to-use color-change test that takes place with a single chemical step.
DON’T MISS THIS: These vintage home pregnancy test kits used test tubes & had a two-hour wait
