Other Modess ads: another from 1928, 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French Modess, and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.
See a prototype of the first Kotex ad.
See more Kotex items: Ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls) - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
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)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links: homepage | 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.

Early Modess menstrual pad ads, 1927-28
Newspapers, U.S.A.

Modess, which Johnson & Johnson made to compete with Kotex, developed at least partly from the research of Dr. Lillian Gilbreth, the famous efficiency expert and center of the book and film Cheaper by the Dozen. She wrote a report (here) to Johnson & Johnson in January, 1927, that uncovered women's desires and dislikes about menstrual pads. J&J seems to have taken her recommendations seriously - simple box design is one - as you can see in these ads and here.

Note the cross, typical of early menstrual supplies. Both Johnson & Johnson and Kimberly-Clark, which made Kotex, made bandages before menstrual pads so you can see a connection. (See a Kotex cross.) But the cross exphasized the medical connection and "bandaging a wound."

A retired teacher kindly sent the electronic files of the ads.

Below: from Oakland [California] Tribune, May 10, 1928.
Silent purchase: Just as with this ad a woman could buy Modess without speaking to a clerk by
handing her the coupon at the bottom.
 

Next: a beautiful early ad also offering silent purchase.

Other Modess ads: another from 1928, 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French Modess,
and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.

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