Not a Laughing Matter!

I was thinking about people I know that now have to wear diapers or pads and am thankful (for more than one reason) that I am not one of them. What do you suppose people in the past used for adult diapers? I don't recall being aware of the problem when I was a kid,no memory of aunts,or my mother's friends that seemed to have a problem,though it must have existed. As a teen and into my 20s I worked as a nurse's aide,and as to be expected with some of the severe medical conditions many of the patients were incontinent,but very few were mobile enough to use diapers. Still,these were sick or disabled people,not someone you would bump into at the store with adult diapers in their shopping cart! It seems as I am veering off the point,so getting back to it...Was it so top secret,or kept under wraps as it were,that I was never aware of anyone with the problem? or were there stealth diapers? Embarrassing as it must be it is hard to imagine not noticing or even over hearing something about it. Of course the merciless teasing that was common when I was young may have been enough of a deterrent to keep it a life long secret!