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Quick Answer: Based on the historical advocacy of Marie Stopes, the author of the book which Mary presented to Anna prior to sending her shopping, the contraceptive was most likely a cervical cap. This was a very taboo product at the time and its sale was limited to married woman who could argue a medical need for preventing conception. Condoms were also becoming popular, but the item Anna purchases is always referred to in the singular, and it is suggested it could be worn without knowledge of the male partner.

Social acceptability and explorations of the taboo are ever-present themes on Downton Abbey (2010-2016). Who can forget the Paul Poiret-inspired wardrobe shocker when Sybil (Jessica Findlay-Brown) wore blue harem pants and a headpiece to dinner? All present found their mouths agape, dumbfounded by this eastern-inspired explosion of color and flapper-era modernity. And there is Lady Rose’s (Lily James) scandalous obsession with the radio, a true horror to representatives of the older generation. The headstrong women of Downton have such wild, progressive interests!

But all prior controversies were put to shame when Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) tasked her lady’s maid Anna (Joanne Froggatt) with purchasing a contraceptive device on her behalf. Not only was Mary planning on using this socially inappropriate object with a man to whom she wasn’t married, but she was hoping its secret utility during an illicit sex getaway in London would help her decide whether or not she was prepared to marry Tony Gillingham (Tom Cullen).

Contraceptives and radios all at once!? What a time to be alive!

Lady Mary and Tony Gillingham

The reality of the situation is Anna seemed straight-up mortified to be purchasing such an object. But as it was in this era, only a married woman was permitted to buy one, and well-known Mary couldn’t possibly buy it herself or it would be a matter of minutes before everyone in town knew of her unacceptable actions. What Anna ends up acquiring comes in a little box and looks rather curious, leading to the question: What did Anna actually buy? What were the typical contraceptive devices of this time?

Before sending her off to make the purchase, Mary handed Anna a book. The author’s name, Mary Stopes, is briefly mentioned in conversation. Unlikely to resonate with many today, Stopes was a highly controversial and well-known figure in 1920s Britain—and her name was synonymous with birth control. Her book, Married Love, the title which Mary handed Anna, challenges the common Victorian idea that women should not enjoy sex, and advised that waiting to conceive children would strengthen the relationship between women and men. It was banned in America for obscenity for nearly a decade and despite holding a taboo status in Britain, was a popular but seldom-discussed read among women.

Stopes’ sequel, Wise Parenthood, is not mentioned on the show but would have made more sense for Mary to give Anna. It was written in response to the inquiries Stopes received following Married Love, as women were running at her with questions about how to actually obtain and use contraceptives. Stopes would end up opening Britain’s first birth control clinic and advocated the use of a cervical cap. This is presumably what Anna purchased for Mary, packaged in a nondescript manner. Her purchase is always referred to in the singular, as when Mary says, “Why shouldn’t you buy one?” and later, when Bates (Brendan Coyne) finds it in Anna’s dresser, he refers to it as “a cunning piece of equipment.” He’s also afraid Anna had been using it without his knowledge, which could be done with that apparatus.

Stopes ushered in an era where women could broaden their perceptions of sex and discover the act didn’t need to be driven by the fear of conception. She allowed women to discover more could be done to prevent conception than visiting illegal abortion clinics, like the one Lady Edith (Laura Camichael) almost employs on the show. An exploration of sex became one of the many ways Downton Abbey explored the balance and struggle of tradition versus progress. Unwanted pregnancy was explored in numerous ways, from Edith’s almost-abortion, Anna’s fear that she was pregnant after surviving a rape, and Edna (MyAnna Buring) blackmailing Tom (Allen Leech) for marriage if she got pregnant from their night together.

The way Stopes describes the cervical cap in Wise Parenthood, which is available for free online, is “a small rubber cap, made on a firm rubber ring, which is accurately fixed round the dome-like end of the womb,” secured by suction. Condoms were also growing in popularity at this time, particularly in America, but Stopes suggested their harmed the intimacy of the act. Stopes’ ideas were incredibly progressive at the time, but seem very rudimentary now. She even advocated douching with Lysol after intercourse, which, no…

The truth is, smaller families were becoming the norm by the late 1920s and 1930s, indicating that despite its outlandishly controversial nature, many people were like Mary, taking Stopes’ advice and experimenting with contraceptive devices during this time.