Pig bladders have played an unexpectedly large role in human cultures over hundreds of years. Disturbing, isn’t it? Of course, the earliest references — courtesy of the Greeks and Romans — were cow and sheep bladders, so animal bladders in general cover even more of human history. But pigs have held their own around the world.
First stop: Italy, where in 1376 the earliest precursor to our corner store’s bologna was made, with a pig bladder casing. Salumi Mortadella di Bologna was followed by another Italian sausage, Culatello di Zibello, in the 15th century. This one consisted of pork hindquarters and spices, again in pig bladder casing, dried for a year, and then served more or less raw.
Italy wasn’t the only area figuring out bladders made excellent casings. The Scots came up with haggis, while Slovenians created ded. The French created gogue but also figured out that steam-cooking meats inside a bladder as a cooking implement worked well. En vessie (literally “in bladder”) cooking made a comeback during the 1930s and has remained a staple in French fine cooking since.
At some point, it was also discovered that bladders made good storage containers. In an age before mass-produced canning equipment, bladders’ tendency to shrink as they dried ensured tight seals. In what is commonly considered the first American cookbook, Amelia Simmons uses bladders to preserve fresh peas and pickles. (Jury is out on whether she preserved them together??)
Bladders would dry thin but sturdy, making them also ideal for window coverings. This use comes up again and again if you visit pre-Industrial Revolution historical sites, as an alternative to ridiculously expensive glass.
In an ironic twist, once past the Industrial Revolution and into the age of artificially lit glass windows and mirrors, people began to find that pig bladder lampshades emulated the soft glow of candlelight nicely. Bladder lampshades remained popular from the end of the 18th century into the 1950s.
Paint storage was another popular, but now forgotten, use for bladders. Between paint being freshly mixed and used immediately and modern paint tubes was a phase of pig bladders being filled with paint and tied closed with a string. The bladder was then pricked with a tack to access the paint, but with no neat way to seal the leak and the risk of bursting before pricking — this wasn’t ideal. Impressionist painter John G. Rand, an American residing in London at the time, invented the paint tube in 1841 to improve on the mess.
Twenty years later, the pig bladder’s most commonly remembered use (besides sausage) would be replaced: the sports ball. While the earliest “football” was a literal hog’s head according to one source, the earliest proper balls were air-filled sheep or pig’s bladders encased in leather, for durability (see above paint messes). Rubber “bladders” were more reliably durable than their original counterparts, starting in 1862.
Around the same time, Charles Goodyear (yes, of tire fame) used vulcanized rubber to reinvent another longtime use of pig bladders: condoms. Contrary to some sex-ed, bladder condoms have been around since the Roman era. Starting in the Renaissance, they were more commonly made of a blend of intestines and bladder — and produced by butchers. The tiremaker taking over doesn’t look quite so strange from that perspective.
In some ways, pig bladders remain a part of human culture: traditional sausages are still made, and animal condoms are still an apt replacement in cases of latex allergies. Antique pig bladder lampshades can even still be found here and there. However, there’s an entirely other argument to be had as to the sanitation of any of these uses. I’m happy to have more modern solutions around nowadays.
What are your thoughts on the sanitariness of these uses? Did I miss your favorite pig bladder use?
