See also Australian douche
ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca
douche powder (U.S.A.) (date ?) - Kotique douche
liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.) - Liasan (1) genital
wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Liasan (2) genital
wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Lysol douche liquid
ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol
douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel douche liquid
ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Midol
menstrual pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol booklet
(selections), 1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream
ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Myzone
menstrual pain pill, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital
spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets,
1936 (Germany) - Sterizol
douche liquid ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Vionell genital spray
ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche ad,
1928 (U.S.A.)
|
Vaginal
hygiene (douching) in The Intimate
Side of a Woman's Life,
by Leona W. Chalmers (1937,
Pioneer Publications, Inc., Radio
City, New York)
Leona Chalmers, who patented her menstrual
cup the year this book
appeared (read her discussion
of it in this book), advocated
douching, the
flushing out of the vagina with
water or another liquid.
Many writers and doctors also
promoted it until recently.
Experts today do not recommend
routine douching and douching for
many special purposes because it
upsets the healthy ecology of the
vagina, sometimes worsening the
very condition it's supposed to
cure. Read an essay
about this.
Remember when you read her
discussion of gonorrhea that this
chapter appeared before the use of
antibiotics. You'll note several
other outmoded beliefs and
practices, as well as some
substandard editing of the text,
including capitalization of the
wrong words, by today's standards,
at least. Chalmers emphasizes sex
appeal and uses the word feminine
in the way many menstrual products
companies do, to lessen the
unpleasantness many women felt,
and feel, about things and
processes "down there." "Dainty"
and "daintiness" often have the
same function and crop up on boxes
and in advertising. Both words
appear on the sparsely worded box
for the "Faultless" syringe
pictured here.
Read a general
discussion of the book and
douching information from Mon Docteur,
a company roughly contemporary,
and associated with the Daintette
menstrual cup - yes, Daintette.
The
director of the cytology
section of a state public
health department kindly
donated the book.
|
|
|
 |
Left,
from the museum
collection: A "Faultless
Feminine Syringe,"
No. 240, made by the
Faultless Rubber Company,
Ashland, Ohio, U.S.A.,
perhaps from the 1960s or
1970s.
The damaged box bears
the phrases, "FEMININE
SYRINGE FOR PERSONAL
DAINTINESS" and "FLEXIBLE
SOFT RUBBER PIPE."
Companies often write
"Feminine" and "dainty"
into advertising copy for
women's products.
Mrs. Chalmers would have
approved of this syringe.
SarahAnne Hazlewood
generously donated the
syringe and box (not
shown) to this museum.
|
|
|
|
|
© 2000 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
|