And
read comments from people who have
used a cup.
Do cups
cause endometriosis? Not enough evidence,
says the FDA.
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A History of the
Menstrual Cup (continued)
Foldene
(1930s-1940s?, U.S.A.)
Printing on the box claims that
this cup is based on the same
patents as the Daintette cup (see
here
on the Daintette page); the cups
look alike except for color and
Foldene's slightly smaller size.
Both boxes carry a silhouette of a
woman, although they're different.
The Foldene came from Foldene
Inc., in Cleveland, Ohio, but the
Daintette stems from almost half a
country away, The Dainty Maid,
Inc., company of Middlefield,
Connecticut. Another mystery to
solve!
Procter & Gamble kindly
donated this cup, along with
many other items, to the museum.
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The arrows point to two of six
holes allowing air in, making it
easier to withdraw the cup without
taking your insides with it, as
the air breaks the vacuum.
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The greatest
diameter is about 1.4" (ca. 3.7
cm.); this example is bent out of
shape and very hard.
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The bottom of the box bears the
stamped words, JUNIOR SIZE.
The "no belts, no pins, no
pads," above, or variations
thereof, is very common on tampon
boxes and in advertising of the
1930s and 1940s, when tampon
manufacturers were trying to wrest
women away from pads - they still
are. Tampons are a hard sell in
much of the world. But women
chaffed, literally, under the
burden of belts and pads (read a medical
report from 1945 about
this).
"THE MEDICAL PROFESSIONS [sic]
CONTRIBUTION TO Womanhood" seems
like a pittance of a contribution
from thousands of doctors, but
cups are an advance if women can
get themselves to use them. The
statement aims to make the reader
believe that doctors invented the
cup, which is otherwise unproved.
But it would likely impress the
woman considering buying it.
The cup the museum has is hard as a rock,
in spite of the statement at left.
It must have been flexible in its
youth - this is FOLDene, after
all, and would be inserted by
folding the cup upon itself, as
these types of cups are (see the patents).
Unfortunately I found no
instructions in the box.
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© 1997-2006 Harry Finley. It is
illegal to reproduce or distribute
any of the 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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