 Until the twenties , all condoms were individually hand @-@ dipped by semi @-@ skilled workers . Throughout the decade of the 1920s , advances in the <unk> of the condom assembly line were made . The first fully automated line was patented in 1930 . Major condom manufacturers bought or leased <unk> systems , and small manufacturers were driven out of business . The skin condom , now significantly more expensive than the latex variety , became restricted to a niche high @-@ end market . 
