See an actual set of the company's early Mon Docteur douche apparatus from the 1920s.
See the company's Daintette menstrual cup
See instructions for the cup; information about the Dainty Maid douche apparatus; and covers of Mon Docteur and Daintette booklets.
See many old douching ads and powders.
Why shouldn't you douche?
The Perils of Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page
A discussion of the letter testimonials of the Lydia Pinkham Medicine Company, and their authenticity (in a discussion of a Pursettes ad with a letter testimonial)
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.

 

Last, stick it in your ear
Testimonials for the Dainty Maid douche, enema and
ear irrigation ("earigator") apparatus that could be
sold in Tupperware-like parties
First testimonial page (probably from the last 40 years)

In twentieth-century America, and probably in Europe, douching the vagina at home - flushing it out, usually with a special apparatus - was very popular, as least to judge from the advertising (see some ads in the links column at left). But just as with the sanitary napkin belt and thick pads - the industries making them almost disappeared (see a Sears catalog page from the 1940s advertising the gear women used, and the early beltless pads New Freedom and Stayfree) - douching has declined, fortunately. Flushing out the vagina rids it not only of odor but of bacteria necessary to keep the tube acidic, the acid reducing the number of harmful microorganisms that can survive there. Douching is normally bad.

The Dainty Maid Company, starting probably in the 1920s in Meriden, Connecticut, made douche apparatus and a menstrual cup that company representatives could sell at "parties" of neighborhood ladies, relatives and friends. My mind reels at the thought. According to the testimonials below, sales people could earn enough to send their kids to college and for cars. I suspect this form of selling things was more common than we might think.

In 1998, an unidentified person in Middlefield, Connecticut, the company's last home, faxed me what look like package inserts or promotional material, below.

See an actual set of the company's early Mon Docteur douche apparatus from the 1920s and the company's Daintette menstrual cup.
Read testimonials for an old American patent medicine, Cardui.

NEXT
Dainty Maid testimonials 1 2 3 and description of products
See an actual set of the company's early Mon Docteur douche apparatus from the 1920s and
the company's Daintette menstrual cup.

© 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
Harry Finley is the founder and director, and he created, writes and maintains this site.