This is a wonderful site!
I've added a link to it on our internal network, just to see what happens when people stumble across it.
I'm sure that someone may already have told you about this [no], but there was a 'pop' group in the 1960s in Britain called 'Scaffold' whose main claim to fame was that one of them was Paul McCartney's brother and one was the Liverpool poet Roger McGough.
However, they had a long-running number one hit with what most people took to be a children's song called 'Lily the Pink':
We'll drink a drink a drink
To Lily the Pink the Pink the Pink
The saviour of the human race
For she invented medicinal compound
Most efficacious in every case.
Mr. Frears
Had sticky-out ears
And it made him awful shy
And so they gave him medicinal compound
And now he's learning how to fly.
Brother Tony
Was notably bony
He would never eat his meals
And so they gave him medicinal compound
Now they move him round on wheels.
[Chorus]
Old Ebeneezer
Thought he was Julius Caesar
And so they put him in a Home
Where they gave him medicinal compound
And now he's Emperor of Rome.
Johnny Hammer
Had a terrible ss..ss..ss..ss..ss..ss..stammer
He could hardly s..s..say a word
And so they gave him medicinal compound
Now he's seen (but never 'eard)!
[Chorus]
Auntie Millie
Ran willy-nilly
When her legs, they did recede
And so they rubbed on medicinal compound
And now they call her Millipede.
Jennifer Eccles
Had terrible freckles
And the boys all called her names
But she changed with medicinal compound
And now he joins in all their games.
[Chorus]
Lily the Pink, she
Turned to drink, she
Filled up with paraffin inside
and despite her medicinal compound
Sadly Picca-Lily died.
Up to Heaven
Her soul ascended
All the church bells they did ring
She took with her medicinal compound
Hark the herald angels sing.
(Incidentally, Picallilli is an English mustard and vegetable relish - hence the play on 'pickled.')
It is attributed to tradition, and arranged by McGough/McGear/Gorman which suggests that it may have had its origins in folk song. I would hazard a guess that it could have been a music hall (vaudeville) song which possibly became a children's rhyme - maybe it was a children's rhyme originally.
I'll keep searching - possibly there's something in the Peter and Iona Opie [famous English collectors of children's games and song] collection.
Keep up the incredible work.
Yours,
Linda Semple
Research Assistant
Public Health
Lothian Health
148 Pleasance
EDINBURGH
EH8 9RS
Hi Harry,
I enjoyed visiting your museum. It was an assignment for a class but it is so interesting I am passing on the URL.
Good job, keep it up.
A man e-mails:Mr. Finley,
I found your Web site very interesting and very informative! Good job on doing it with respect to a very natural occurrence! I have sent this link to many friends and family to educate them on something considered "Real Dark Information." I have added this to my list of "favorites" to share with others.
I was using Yahoo! to research "heating pads" and it listed the museum [!]. Since you were wondering. :-)
No need to explain yourself; it could happen to anyone.
Read more thoughts about menstrual cups
I really liked Instead [menstrual cup; picture at the bottom of the page, and compared with The Keeper. Read too this week's article Instead, by Ariel Meadow Stallings]. It allowed my husband and I to have sex during my period without any mess. Yes, I did have leakage when I coughed, but only once.
You may want to inform your visitors that they may still buy Instead on line at THE HOME PHARMACY [and by calling 1-800-INSTEAD; find them an many drug stores, too.]. They cost a little more than what some people are getting them for but if they are having as much trouble finding them in the stores as I am they may be willing to pay a little more.
By the way, I found your Web site VERY INTERESTING. Who knew the history of tampons, pads, and cups could be so entertaining? Although my husband thought it was weird but he isn't as open minded as you are.
Thanks!
Hi,
I have used Instead for about a year. I think it's great. I was very dismayed to hear that the company may be failing. [It is risen from the dead. Call 1-800-INSTEAD.]
Tampons dry out my vaginal lining and are very irritating. Pads hold all the moisture next to my skin and are also irritating [see the "Dickinson Report," of 1945, which discusses this point and many others].
I had succumbed to tampons [No! Resist them, woman! Just kidding.], because they were the better of two evils. I love Instead. I am a college student, and it fits my lifestyle. I can do anything, and I have never had a problem with leakage. I have also never experienced any pain or damage from pulling it across my cervix. I did find that I had to get used to them, but I had to learn to use tampons, too. So, I didn't give up right away. I am now an avid user of Instead. And, being able to have sex during your period without mess is wonderful. One of my friends tried Instead, but was discouraged by the first use and didn't take the time to adjust. I think this is the major problem with cups. Not enough people use them regularly, and people don't have anyone to talk to about the insertion and removal.
When I first heard of the product [Instead menstrual cup], I had to try it immediately. That was a couple years ago and I still have the original box at home, mostly unused. It didn't work. It leaked, was uncomfortable during insertion, extraction and made a mess. I figured it failed because of my heavy menstrual flow. I tried the product again on a light flow day and had the same results.
I'll stick with tampons and pads. They may be archaic, but at least I have peace of mind while wearing them.
Yahoo!
It's so great to have a resource that tries to look at the medical impacts of menstrual cups. I've been trying to find out if the FDA [Food and Drug Administration; you must read this, folks!] has checked out The Keeper or not [no, not for safety], and I blatantly refuse to put anything in an orifice that hasn't been tested. Hey, I'm an engineer, I LIKE scientific studies [me, too!!].
[There is an old study, financed by the manufacturer, of the defunct Tassaway cup.]
Anyway, I gathered from what I could find that neither the New England Journal of Medicine nor JAMA [Journal of the American Medical Association] or any other publications have run any studies on this, and (from your site) there doesn't seem to be much in the way of research. [You're right. But read what Dr. Philip Tierno has written.]
I'll keep checking out mum.org to see if anything shows, so if you hear of anything, please publish it! [I will!] I like the thought of a reusable menstrual product, but not the lack of concrete facts [I agree 100 percent].
Thanks for this great site, you're a boon to women (and men) everywhere! [Many thanks!]
Read comments older than about a year about menstrual cups, and more recent ones by clicking back through previous news sections. Here's more about the early Instead marketing campaign.
"I laughed, I cried, I gave up tampons!"What an incredible site you've created - please, keep up the good work! I'm passing your Web address on to my friends and my three grown daughters.
Congratulations for your museum. It's very interesting and well-documented.
Yes, that's strange a woman did not this kind of museum [read why I started this museum and my ideas for its future], but you did a quite good job and may be more documented because you don't know anything (or so little) about wearing pads, tampons, etc.
Keep on - continue!
Good luck. [Thanks!]
Please, may I post a letter on your letter page?
I'm researching a documentary for the BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation] about menstruation - myths and facts and blessing or curse.
I have much information about the curse and predjudice but I am finding scant information about the blessing! I was thrilled to find medical information linking surgery for breast cancer and the menstrual cycle and the New Scientist report about differing medication levels required during the 28-day cycle, and the research about eating requirements differing during the cycle etc., but I want to hear from women who have evidence of the cycle as a blessing, for example, artists, writers, etc., who are at their most creative whilst menstruating.
I also want to meet women who practice menstrual seclusion, as with menstrual huts of the past [and of the present; women still use menstrual huts].
And anything and everything to do with research into menstruation.
Next week I am interviewing Mr Peter Redgrove and Penelope Shuttle who wrote the first book on menstruation that offered positive information, The Wise Wound, 1978. I am very excited about asking many questions resulting from the book. If you have any questions for them pertaining to the book or their second book, Alchemy for Women, about the dream cycle corresponding to the menstrual cycle, I would be delighted to forward them to them on your behalf. They are not on the net so any questions would have to have addresses!
Thank you so much for this glorious Web site [many thanks to you for saying that!] and I look forward to hearing from visitors to your site.
Ali Kedge.
ali@shortkedge.freeserve.co.uk or fflic.zip@business.ntl.com
Irregular menses identify women at high risk for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which exists in 6-10% of women of reproductive age. PCOS is a major cause of infertility and is linked to diabetes.