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Ads for menstrual belts and pads,
Australia, about 1900
At least one of the two
advertisements below are from a birth-control
publication in Australia,
probably printed around 1900 or
slightly before. The Australian
government prosecuted the "Wife's
Guide and Friend" for being obscene
because it advertised contraceptives
and contained birth control
information. Some visitors to this
site will know what happened to
Margaret Sanger in the United States a
few years later.
Thank you very much to the Royal Australian
College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists, Melbourne,
which owns the original of the first
illustration, and to the Royal Australasian
College of Physicians,
Sydney, which owns the second. The Powerhouse
Museum in Sydney kindly
gave MUM photocopies of parts of
both publications.
And many
thanks to Megan Hicks of the
Powerhouse Museum, Australia's
largest museum, for her interest,
commentary and help!
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Above: This ad is from a short
booklet which appears to be a reprint
of the second half of "The Wife's
Guide and Friend" (from which the ad
below comes). In a testimonial on the
opposite page, a woman refers
favorably to the belt as a "diaper," a
term not exactly in favor today.
The advertising copy is as glowing
as advertising copy ever has been.
Some things never change.
Original owned by the Royal
Australian College of Obstetricians
and Gynaecologists, Melbourne
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"The Wife's Guide and Friend," which
originally appeared in the 1890s in
Australia, contained this ad, at least
in a later edition. The belt could
hold a "sponge, cloth, cotton-wool, or
any absorbing material," including
what was advertised on the opposite
page: "cotton-wool, medicated with an
antiseptic," and disposable.
Antiseptic? "[It] makes them perfectly
free from any unpleasantness if not
destroyed immediately after use. This
is of great value to ladies when
travelling." Traveling has been a
persistent issue with menstruating
women (see the 1914
Sears
ad).
Original owned by the Royal
Australasian College of Physicians,
Sydney, Australia
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© 1998 Harry Finley. It is illegal
to reproduce or distribute work on
this Web site in any manner or medium
without written permission of the
author. Please report suspected
violations to hfinley@mum.org
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