See other early commercial tampons at MUM - see some booklets for girls Personal Products made (Growing Up and Liking It, etc.) - an ad for this tampon
Famous women in menstrual hygiene advertising:
Carol Lynley - Lee Miller - Mary Lou Retton - Cathy Rigby - Cheryl Tiegs - Brenda Vaccaro
See also advertising for teenagers.
Menstrual pad suspenders!
See how a woman wore a belt in a Dutch ad. See a classy 1920s ad for a belt and the first ad (1891) MUM has for a belt.
See how women wore a belt (and in a Swedish ad). See a modern belt for a washable pad and a page from the 1946-47 Sears catalog showing a great variety.
More ads for napkin belts: Sears, 1928 - modern belts - modern washable - Modess, 1960s
Actual belts in the museum
More ads for napkin belts: Sears, 1928 - modern belts - modern washable - Modess, 1960s
Actual belts in the museum
See the Kotex stick tampon.
See also a Saba Ad, Pursettes ad, Kotex "Are you in the know?" ads (1949)(1953)(1964), Ads for Teens, and some older Kotex ads
And, of course, the first Tampax AND - special for you! - the American fax tampon, from the early 1930s, which also came in bags.
See a Modess True or False? ad in The American Girl magazine, January 1947, and actress Carol Lynley in "How Shall I Tell My Daughter" booklet ad (1955) - Modess . . . . because ads (many dates).
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepageMUM 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.

Carefree menstrual tampons (U.S.A., Personal Products Company)

The company that made Modess pads (and Modess tampons, yet another brand; so many tampons, so little time!) made a successor to Meds tampon, Carefree, which could supposedly absorb more water (see a test, below) and blue liquid - and maybe menses - than other tampons.

Model Cheryl Tiegs made an ad for this tampon.

The tampon had no insertion tube, like the first commercial tampons Wix, fax, etc. Tampax sold the first tube tampon in the early 1930s, a brilliant move.

Note the claim that a doctor invented it, a claim made for many menstrual products (Tampax and o.b., for example). People tend to think doctors know everything, so putting crosses (the old Kotex and Modess) and medical endorsements on boxes make the products more credible. But in this case it might be true if Carefree is really o.b., which this company bought about this time.


 

This tampon and box bear no date, but probably stem from the 1970s.

 

Front of box

Back of box 

 

See some Personal Products booklets for girls

© 1999 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any of the work on this Web site in any manner or
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