See another Jews' bath,
from the 18th century.
See douche apparatus: Germany
(1933, as Hitler was coming to power), Australia, an
American book
promoting the practice, and instructional
material for an American
company
that sold douche equipment and menstrual cups at
Tupperware-like parties in
women's houses!
See an American douche set, Mon Docteur (My Doctor
in French), with instructions and booklets,
from about 1929.
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.)
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Jews' bath (mikvah) for after
menstruation, built 1260
Friedberg, Germany, plan (1902)
Jews came very
early to what is now Germany and for
millennia had some good times and
many bad times under Christian
domination, just as was true in the
rest of Europe.
Jewish women
who have just completed their
menstrual period used this bath.
There are still very old mikvahs in
Speyer and Worms, Germany.
Many people
today think that women were
discriminated against by this
practice. But the same book of the Bible
required men to undergo ritual
cleansing after ejaculating semen in
their sleep.
The drawing, by Hubert Katz, comes
from the city archives of Friedberg
and is found in the catalog
"Menstruation: Monatshygiene im Wandel
von 1900 bis heute," Text und Katalog:
Sabine Zinn-Thomas und Walter Stolle.
Eine Ausstellung des Hessischen
Landesmuseums Darmstadt in der
Außenstelle Lorsch, 26.11.1998
bis 31.7.1999. My translation:
"Menstruation: Changing menstrual
hygiene [in Germany, mostly] from 1900
to today [1998]." Text and catalog:
Sabine Zinn-Thomas and Walter Stolle.
An exhibition of the Hessian State
Museum, Darmstadt, in the branch at
Lorsch, from November 26, 1998 to July
31, 1999.
In
March, 2012, a woman e-mailed the
following about menstrual practices:
Hello. I
just stumbled upon your piece on
menstruation behaviors of women in
past generations - fascinating. I just
wanted to mention that it would
probably have been highly unlikely
that Jewish women did not wear
underwear or pads of some sort, as
menstruation has many halakhic
ramifications (in regard to
intercourse and other marriage laws)
which are still very much in use today
by Jewish women the world over. Jewish
law (halakha) requires menstruating
women to count five days after the
start of their period, then insert
clean white cotton cloths vaginally
twice daily to assure that the flow of
blood has stopped, as well as wear
white underwear and sleep on white
bedding [a practice which was, indeed,
probably instituted because bloomers
were not pressed tightly against the
skin, or not worn to sleep] for a week
before they may ritually wash in a
mikva, or ritualarium. These laws are
among the top two or three laws that
Jews consider "defining", that is, a
"if he/she keeps these laws, he/she is
practicing Jew" sort of thing.†
So - in summation - not only are/were
Jewish women highly aware of their
menstruation, and not only was it not
considered something abominable or
embarrassing, it was governed by a
strict and encompassing set of laws
that makes me think that there must
have been undergarments of some sort
worn. I wonder if the Talmud addresses
this interesting issue?†
In any case, just an interesting
cultural side point. Thanks for
bringing up the topic!
Most sincerely
****
This
relates specifically to my contention
(and here)
that many women used nothing to
absorb menses during menstruation. I
need reliable information about the
subject world wide.
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I translated some of the German
and added it to the drawing. The
white arrow (bottom) points to the
bath, about 82 feet (24.97 meters)
beneath the street.
|
 |
See another Jews' bath,
from the 18th century.
And speaking of cleaning, see some douche
apparatus: Germany
(1933, as Hitler was coming to power), Australia, an
American book
promoting the practice, and instructional
material for an American
company
that sold douche equipment and menstrual cups at
Tupperware-like parties in
women's houses!
See an American douche set, Mon Docteur (My Doctor
in French), with instructions and booklets,
from about 1929.
© 2006 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
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