NovoPen from 1986 - how a fountain pen reshaped diabetology
The year is 1986. NovoPen enters the market - one of the first insulin pens in the world. Its design was no accident.
"It looks like an elegant fountain pen but look again: It's a really unique development in diabetes care" - NovoPen brochure, Squibb-Novo, Inc.
High-end design
In promotional materials, NovoPen rests on a stylish notebook, next to a leather briefcase and sheets from a dot-matrix printer. This was not just medical equipment. It was a business accessory.
Nickel-chromed brass casing
Shirt pocket clip
Miniature syringe mechanism hidden inside
NovoPen targeted people who could afford more than a basic syringe. Discretion, elegance, and ease of use - the core message.
Class and status in promotional materials
The brochure features an image of a Black woman in a business suit injecting insulin into her thigh at her desk. It is the only image of a person of color in the entire set of materials from the Smithsonian archives. The rest show white, middle- and upper-class individuals in offices or refined homes.
The manufacturers make it clear who they think should use these pens. Poorer or less privileged people are absent from this picture. That is not accidental - it reflects class and racial bias in this polished vision of diabetology.
Pen instead of syringe - breakthrough or illusion?
NovoPen made life easier for millions. But it also introduced a new kind of pressure: to stay discreet, to hide the disease, to fit in. If you do not, it can suggest you are "not coping". I find that mindset troubling.
More on stigma and hiding in #3.
