See Kotex's first successful tampon,
Fibs; early Kotex
tampon attempts;
and an early Tampax.
Tampon
oddities: Sa-tips
(U.S.A.. 1930s-1940s?) Sanpax (the "x" is
overprinted with a "D" on the box) (Israel?
Switzerland? 1970) The instructions are
completely in Hebrew except for one word,
sanpax. Secret
(U.S.A., 1930s-1940s)
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EZO menstrual tampons
(1930s?, U.S.A.)
Tampax's genius was the cardboard
insertion device, patented
in the early 1930s. The vast
majority of 30s tampons - the
first commercial ones for
menstruation - had no such
applicator (Wix,
for example). But EZO did! I
wonder how it avoided the Tampax
patent.
I date EZO to the 1930s because
of such text as "THE NEXT IDEA IN
SANITATION" (below) and the leaflet
inside, which proclaim its
novelty. As with almost all early
tampons it bears no trademarks or
patent numbers or information that
would offer a date after some
digging. And the Los Angeles
address (below) contains no postal
code, which first appeared in the
early 1940s. (It's interesting
that another tampon appeared in
1930s Los Angeles, not otherwise a
hotbed of menstrual technology
innovation - Hollywood, actually:
Holly-Pax
. Could
American film actresses have
wanted a handy - EASYO - version
of what European theater
performers had apparently used for decades? Hollywood
actresses don't strike me as
glad to spend an evening sewing
tampons.)
The box decoration also seems
art deco, a style common in the
late 1920s and throughout the
1930s and into the 40s.
And the word SANITATION
(on the box, below) might be
unique when used with menstrual
products although sanitary napkin
of course is part of American
menstrual culture. That suggests
to me that it was abandoned early,
maybe for stylistic reasons.
Procter & Gamble kindly
donated the box and contents as
part of a gift of scores of
menstrual products.
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Below:
The front and back of the beat-up
box are identical. The box
measures 2 x 4 3/4 x 1 3/8" (5.2 x
12 x 3.5 cm).
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The smaller sides are also
identical.
All
photos @2008 Harry Finley
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Below:
The bottom; the top is missing.
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NEXT leaflet |
tampon wrapped,
unwrapped
Tampon
oddities: Sa-tips
(U.S.A.. 1930s-1940s?). Sanpax (the
"x" is overprinted with a "D" on
the box) (Israel? Switzerland?
1970) The instructions are
completely in Hebrew except for
one word, sanpax. Secret
(U.S.A., 1930s-1940s)
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