Preparing for Womanhood 5 at the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health

See a 1938 explanatory booklet from Kotex also lacking a story, and a more personal one from 1938.

See some covers of Growing Up and Liking It , How shall I tell my daughter, and Personal Digest booklets, and see the 1928 booklet Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday and an advertisement for it.

See similar booklets on this site.

Read a Personal Products booklet for younger girls from about this time, What a trained nurse wrote to her young sister.

See also How shall I tell my daughter? and Personal Digest and read the whole booklet As One Girl to Another (Kotex, 1940).

See a Kotex ad advertising a Marjorie May booklet.
See many more similar booklets.

See ads for menarche-education booklets: Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1932), Tampax tampons (1970, with Susan Dey), Personal Products (1955, with Carol Lynley), and German o.b. tampons (lower ad, 1981)

See also the booklets How shall I tell my daughter? (Modess, various dates), and Growing up and liking it (Modess, various dates)

And read Lynn Peril's series about these and similar booklets!

Read the full text of the 1935 Canadian edition of Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday, probably identical to the American edition.

Is this the first Tampax tampon? Go to Early Commercial Tampons

Other early commercial tampons - Main Tampax patent - Ad from 1936 - World War II Tampax sign

More ads for teens (see also introductory page for teenage advertising): Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and Quest napkin powder, 1948, U.S.A.), Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and belts, 1949, U.S.A.)Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins, 1953, U.S.A.), Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and belts, 1964, U.S.A.), Freedom (1990, Germany), Kotex (1992, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Saba (1975, Denmark)

See early tampons and a list of tampon on this site - at least the ones I've cataloged.

DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)

CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links: homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets for girls (mostly) directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | facts-of-life booklets for girls | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | menarche booklets for girls and parents | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor | olor | pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | puberty booklets for girls and parents | religion | Religión y menstruación | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | Seguridad de productos para la menstruación | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants & panties directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads

Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.

Preparing for Womanhood, menstruation & puberty booklet
by Kotex, 1920s, sample pages

Odor was and is a persistent problem, and the industry has struggled for decades to find a way to kill it. Women in America have been taught to conceal every hint of menstruation, which society treats as shameful.

Kotex abandoned its flushing disposal technique after it stopped up too many toilets.

The rounded corners, etc., for comfort are still an issue today. Every manufacturer claims to have the answer, and always has.

The last sentence is the ultimate advertising promise; I'm disappointed you can't get rich using Kotex.

NEXT page (cover, pages 3, 6-7, 11, back cover) See a 1938 explanatory booklet from Kotex also lacking a story, and a more personal one from 1938.

By the kind permission of the Curator of Health and Medicine at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia, I am able to show you part of this Australian edition in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum. (Please direct any further enquiries to Megan Hicks at meganh@phm.gov.au)

© 1999 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

By the kind permission of the Curator of Health and Medicine at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia, I am able to show you part of this Australian edition in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum. (Please direct any further enquiries to Megan Hicks at meganh@phm.gov.au)

© 1999 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

See a 1938 explanatory booklet from Kotex also lacking a story, and a more personal one from 1938.

See some covers of Growing Up and Liking It , How shall I tell my daughter, and Personal Digest booklets, and see the 1928 booklet Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday and an advertisement for it.

See similar booklets on this site.

Read a Personal Products booklet for younger girls from about this time, What a trained nurse wrote to her young sister.

See also How shall I tell my daughter? and Personal Digest and read the whole booklet As One Girl to Another (Kotex, 1940).

See a Kotex ad advertising a Marjorie May booklet. See many more similar booklets.

See ads for menarche-education booklets: Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1932), Tampax tampons (1970, with Susan Dey), Personal Products (1955, with Carol Lynley), and German o.b. tampons (lower ad, 1981)

See also the booklets How shall I tell my daughter? (Modess, various dates), and Growing up and liking it (Modess, various dates)

And read Lynn Peril's series about these and similar booklets!

Read the full text of the 1935 Canadian edition of Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday, probably identical to the American edition.

Is this the first Tampax tampon? Go to Early Commercial Tampons

Other early commercial tampons - Main Tampax patent - Ad from 1936 - World War II Tampax sign

See early tampons and a list of tampon on this site - at least the ones I've cataloged.

DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)

Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.

Preparing for Womanhood, menstruation & puberty booklet by Kotex, 1920s, sample pages

Odor was and is a persistent problem, and the industry has struggled for decades to find a way to kill it. Women in America have been taught to conceal every hint of menstruation, which society treats as shameful.

Kotex abandoned its flushing disposal technique after it stopped up too many toilets.

The rounded corners, etc., for comfort are still an issue today. Every manufacturer claims to have the answer, and always has.

The last sentence is the ultimate advertising promise; I'm disappointed you can't get rich using Kotex.

NEXT page (cover, pages 3, 6-7, 11, back cover) See a 1938 explanatory booklet from Kotex also lacking a story, and a more personal one from 1938.

By the kind permission of the Curator of Health and Medicine at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia, I am able to show you part of this Australian edition in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum. (Please direct any further enquiries to Megan Hicks at meganh@phm.gov.au)

© 1999 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

By the kind permission of the Curator of Health and Medicine at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia, I am able to show you part of this Australian edition in the collection of the Powerhouse Museum. (Please direct any further enquiries to Megan Hicks at meganh@phm.gov.au)

See a Kotex ad advertising a Marjorie May booklet.
See many more similar booklets.

Preparing for Womanhood, menstruation & puberty booklet
by Kotex, 1920s, sample pages