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Disposable nappy inventor Valerie Hunter Gordon dies aged 94 | Disposable nappy inventor Valerie Hunter Gordon dies aged 94 |
(35 minutes later) | |
The mother-of-six who invented the disposable nappy has died at her home near Inverness aged 94. | The mother-of-six who invented the disposable nappy has died at her home near Inverness aged 94. |
Valerie Hunter Gordon's family said she died on 16 October in Beauly. | Valerie Hunter Gordon's family said she died on 16 October in Beauly. |
She created the first "Paddi" after having her third child, Nigel, in 1947 and becoming fed-up with washing traditional nappies. | She created the first "Paddi" after having her third child, Nigel, in 1947 and becoming fed-up with washing traditional nappies. |
The two-part garments were initially made out of old nylon parachutes, tissue wadding and cotton wool. | The two-part garments were initially made out of old nylon parachutes, tissue wadding and cotton wool. |
Mrs Hunter Gordon made hundreds of the nappies using a sewing machine at her kitchen table, supplying friends with the product and constantly modifying the design. | Mrs Hunter Gordon made hundreds of the nappies using a sewing machine at her kitchen table, supplying friends with the product and constantly modifying the design. |
Her husband, Major Pat Hunter Gordon, was also pressed into helping make the nappies when he returned from fighting in Borneo. | Her husband, Major Pat Hunter Gordon, was also pressed into helping make the nappies when he returned from fighting in Borneo. |
'Wretched' nappies | |
Speaking to the BBC in 2015, Mrs Hunter Gordon said she had found washing nappies much too laborious and so began searching for disposables. | |
"I thought you must be able to buy them - but you couldn't, not anywhere," she said. | |
"It seemed extraordinary that it hadn't been done before. I thought, it's easy, I'll make them. But it wasn't easy. It was quite tricky. | |
"Everybody who saw them said, Valerie, please would you make one for me? And so I ended up by making about over 600 of them. | |
"I spent my time sitting at my mother's sewing machine, making these wretched things." | |
Paddis replaced absorbent cotton towelling nappies, which had to be washed after each use. | |
"Everybody wanted to stop washing nappies. Nowadays they seem to want to wash them again - good luck to them," Mrs Hunter Gordon said last year. | |
The couple applied for a patent in 1948 and signed an agreement with Robinsons to manufacture the nappies in 1949. The first nappies were modelled by her son, Nigel. | |
Possible names for the product included Valette, Snappy, Napkins, Lavnets and Drypad. The name Paddi was chosen after a meeting between Major Hunter Gordon and a group of senior executive Army officers at The Army Staff College in Surrey, according to the Paddi website. | Possible names for the product included Valette, Snappy, Napkins, Lavnets and Drypad. The name Paddi was chosen after a meeting between Major Hunter Gordon and a group of senior executive Army officers at The Army Staff College in Surrey, according to the Paddi website. |
At first, there was resistance to the nappies from doctors, who thought it would harm babies' skin, and a general public not used to throwing things away in the post-war years. | At first, there was resistance to the nappies from doctors, who thought it would harm babies' skin, and a general public not used to throwing things away in the post-war years. |
However, an article in Lancet written by an Army doctor who used Paddis for his baby helped change medical opinion and they began to be stocked by Boots. | However, an article in Lancet written by an Army doctor who used Paddis for his baby helped change medical opinion and they began to be stocked by Boots. |
They were advertised as "A really attractive garment, skilfully designed by a Mother, to make the whole-time use of disposable nappies a practical possibility". | |
The company eventually went into decline in the 1960s, with the arrival of the American brand Pampers. | The company eventually went into decline in the 1960s, with the arrival of the American brand Pampers. |
Mrs Hunter Gordon's daughter, Frances Ross, said her mother had been survived by six children, 19 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren, with another due in a few months. | Mrs Hunter Gordon's daughter, Frances Ross, said her mother had been survived by six children, 19 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren, with another due in a few months. |