Ads for the Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A., 1970s) - a Japanese stick tampon from the 1970s.
Early commercial tampons - Rely tampon - Meds tampon (Modess)
Early commercial tampons
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).
DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM 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.

Kotex menstrual napkin ad, U.S.A., October 1925
Two enlarged sections

The laundry problem Kotex mentions - washable menstrual pads - an earlier ad explicitly shows, here. See an Italian washable pad from right before this time.

See more comments and links under the lower picture.

Whole ad - enlarged main drawing

 
 
 
The woman's open-leg underpants (top drawing) meant that she had to wear a belt and Kotex (here). Tight-fitting panties apparently didn't come into common use until the 1930s (here). Women could then wear special panties with a gripping device (ouch!) in the crotch (here). Only decades later did adhesive pads appear that stuck to the crotches of underpants (here). But there was at least one exception: Sears advertised "sanitary bloomers" in a 1922 catalog. Just for fun, see the Sears page of open- and closed-crotch underpants, also in its 1922 catalog.
Women could buy Kotex in dispensers and on the tops of counters, a brilliant marketing move. See a later pad from a dispenser.

END Whole ad - enlarged main drawing - See an Italian washable pad from right before this time. See Kotex pad dispensers (here) and to the napkins within
(see one from the 1930s).

© 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