They certainly had some interesting testing formats:
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1927
Aschheim and Zondek described a test (known as the A-Z test) which identified the presence of hCG in urine. To test for pregnancy, a woman’s urine was injected into an immature rat or mouse. If the subject was not pregnant, there would be no reaction. In the case of pregnancy, the rat would show an estrous reaction (be in heat) despite its immaturity. This test implied that during pregnancy there was an increased production of the hormone. During early studies of the A-Z test, the scientists discovered that testicular tumors could produce hCG as well.
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1930s
Hormone research blossomed in this period. Scientists in several different laboratories developed bioassays (special tests using animals or live tissue) to identify hCG by injecting samples to induce ovulation in rabbits, frogs, toads, and rats. These tests were expensive, required the sacrifice of several animals, and slow, often taking days to get results.
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1960
A “hemagglutination inhibition test” for pregnancy was developed by L. Wide and C.A. Gemzell. Because it used cells in the testing process, this test was an immunoassay rather than a bioassay. The test used purified hCG, mixed with a urine sample and antibodies directed against hCG. In a positive pregnancy test, the red cells clumped, displaying a particular pattern. This test was much faster and cheaper than the old bioassay, but still relatively insensitive, especially for early diagnosis of pregnancy. The test also cross-reacted with various medications.
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1970
Tests available to doctors and technicians included Wampole’s two-hour pregnancy test. The test could be done as early as four days after a missed period. In the packaging materials, the man pictured performing the test wore a laboratory coat, indicating that it was not intended for home use. Besides the equipment in the kit, (two test tubes, a plastic rack, a bottle of “control solution,” a bottle of “hCG-antiserum” and a bottle of “cell suspension”), testers would need a small funnel and filter paper or centrifuge, clean pipettes or syringes, and saline solution in addition to a urine sample.
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1976
FDA approval was sought by Warner-Chilcott for e.p.t, the “Early Pregnancy Test” later known as the “Error Proof Test.” e.p.t would become the first home pregnancy test kit on the market in the United States. The makers of e.p.t worked with the FDA to meet all the requirements of the 1976 Medical Devices Act. (The new regulations divided medical devices into three classes depending on potential for harm and misuse.) Approval was also granted to three other tests that were deemed “Substantially equivalent:” Predictor, ACU-TEST, and Answer.
So home pregnancy testing is only still relatively new! Developed in the US in the year of my birth - so I guess my mum didn't do a test for me either!
