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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Menstrual pad ad, February 1929 (Johnson & Johnson, U.S.A.)
"Mother . . . don't be quaint"

Modess appeared in the 1920s, a challenger to Kotex and many other companies fighting for the disposable pad market, which was drawing women away from washable pads; commercial menstrual tampons hadn't appeared yet. A famous efficiency expert helped Modess in the battle.

One weapon was humor, unusual at this time (see some later humor). The ad below was part of a series showing how "modern" girls dragged their mothers into 1929. Their mothers were so 19th century!

They had to hurry: the stock market would crash in a few months.

Modernizing Mother Episodes #3, #5

Read how Modess sanitary napkins began.

Below: The odd lighting runs through the ad series - maybe a carryover from the stage,
popular before TV; films were in their youth.
 
Below: So, what's Daughter doing? Putting beauty marks on Mother's face (is that what's on her own face?) while Mom's heart flutters? What's that in her hand? What's that lump right below her wrist - a lipoma? Actually, I think it's a reflection in the mirror behind her.
Below: The fact that the three marks (see the arrows) were screened before printing (indicated by the thickened dots) means they aren't just dirt on the plate before being printed but intentional - at least that's how I interpret them. So are they then beauty marks? Ah, the piercings of yesteryear!
 

NEXT: Modernizing Mother Episodes #3, #5 || Other Modess ads: another from 1928, 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French Modess, True or false? ad,
and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.

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