See a wrapped Kotex pad (mid 1930s) and some pad dispensers. Read a Modess magazine ad, probably from about this time.
See more Kotex items: First ad (1921; scroll to bottom of page) - ad, 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in a menstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1935, American/Canadian edition) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
See 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 ad, 1938 - Midol booklet (selections), 1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Myzone menstrual pain pills ad, 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 liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
The Perils of Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page
More Midol: Midol booklet (selections), 1959, and Midol ad, 1938
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepageMUM 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.

Wrapped Modess menstrual pad for a dispenser, U.S.A., 1930s?

Kotex probably pioneered the use of dispensers for pads, but other companies quickly followed (see old dispensers at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.).

I can't help but wonder if the lack of information on the back of the package foreboded Modess's losing its competition with its main competitor, Kotex, which covered the back of its packaging with information. It also reflected the "Modess . . . .because" ad campaign of the following decades in its taciturnity.

See a wrapped Kotex pad (mid 1930s) and some pad dispensers. Read a Modess magazine ad, probably from about this time.

 

The package measures 8.75" long by 4.25" high (about 22 cm by 10.5 cm), an inch shorter than the wrapped 1930s pad from Kotex. Note the cross. Johnson & Johnson was known for its bandages, as was Kimberly-Clark (in World War I), the creator of Kotex; it too flaunted the cross. But the crosses were probably intended to boost the pads' credibility among a public that had increasing faith in doctors after the medical inadequacy of the 19th century, especially in America.

 

Back of package. The back of the wrapped Kotex pad is covered with information.
See a wrapped Kotex pad (mid 1930s) and some pad dispensers. Read a Modess magazine ad, probably from about this time.

© 1999 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any of the work on this Web site in any
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