o.b. ads
German (early 1950s) - German (1970s) - German nude (1970s) - French (1989)
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).
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.

 
The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health
Original museum and reaction to it.

o.b. tampon ad, probably about 2000
Flair magazine, Belgium

In a bind?

Well, o.b. is for you!

o.b. means "ohne Binde" in German, ohne meaning without.

A confession: Binde kinda, sorta means bind but in this case in German - the 'pon originated in Germany - it means menstrual pad. You can maybe see a connection.

So o.b. means without a pad Here, meaning a tampon. Pretty neat, huh?

In an ad in 1984, the company claimed that a German woman, Judith Esser, "designed" o.b., maybe the first commercial tampon originating in Europe and now of course it's everywhere. (Tampax probably was the first commercial tampon in Europe. See its Dutch ad from 1938.)

Read also

  • the roughly contemporary Dutch o.b. Volwassen worden ("Growing up," excerpts), menstruation and puberty booklet for teenage girls, 2004
  • the American o.b. booklet " Your Personal Guide to Menstruation and Tampon Usage," complete booklet, 1988
  • an artsy German o.b. booklet for girls about menstruation and puberty, excerpts, 1977, with photos by David Hamilton
Margot van Mulken kindly sent me this ad, one of scores, along with
many photocopies of Dutch ads, as part of her research for her article "De verpakking
van maandverband: De ontwikkeling van retoriek in tijdschriftadvertenties"
(The Packaging of of Menstrual Pads: The Development of Rhetoric in
Magazine Advertising) in Tidschift voor Genderstudies (Journal of Gender Studies),
2005-1.
See another one she sent me, from 1998.

Below: The ad measures  about 8 1/4 x 11 1/4" (21 x 28.6 cm).

See a failed tampon from an earlier America (around 1937)
(Fibs, a great name), like this o.b. designed for

"Invisible Sanitary Protection for the last days."
Sort of the End Times. But would you need
tampons then
? Or anything else?

My translation:
 




In the last days of your period the loss of fluid decreases.
[See remarks above left.] As a result the insertion and removal of a tampon is less comfortable.
o.b. Comfort is for these days. Due to its more slender shape, silky covering and smaller end it's easier to insert and remove.
So that you can also use tampons during the lighter days as well as on the other days of the month, and feel clean and at ease.

"Have you tried it already for the lighter days?"
o.b. Comfort

Have any questions?
Write:
o.b. Advice Center
[Almere is a city in the Netherlands]

o.b. ads: German (early 1950s) - German (1970s) - German nude (1970s) - French (1989)
o.b. puberty booklet (German, 1977)
What does o.b. mean?

Copyright 2007 Harry Finley