See a Modess pad
ad from 1928 - Compare the American "Modess . . . . because"
ads, the French
Modess, and the German "Freedom"
(Kimberly-Clark) for teens.
See a San-Nap-Pak
ad from 1945 in American Girl, the Girl
Scout magazine, and a box of
San-Nap-Pak tampons
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).
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San-Nap-Pak menstrual pad ad, 1932, U.S.A.
This San-Nap-Pak menstrual pad
advertisement from 1932 (U.S.A.)
claims medical endorsement, just
as Tampax, Kotex, o.b. tampon, and
many other companies did and still
do. In the 1930s, the American
Medical Association asked Tampax
to stop putting "Accepted for
advertising by the American
Medical Association" on its boxes
and in its advertising because it
seemed to imply its approval.
Doctors wielded their authority in
this era more than they do today.
Calling one style of its pad La Grande
- I assume the biggest - reduces
the embarrassment women might have
felt by ordering the big size;
Americans use French for
naughtiness or haughtiness, a
strange combination, but then
Americans find the French hard to
understand - especially when they
speak French, and fast. (See a French ad
for Modess.) Better to throw the
blame for sexiness on the worldly
French than accept our own
feelings.
The ad further claims the high
ground, as opposed to the low
ground of menstruation, by showing
richly dressed people, right from
a movie.
Beneath
the ad we see the cover of
the magazine in which it appears
(the ad appears on the other
side). I couldn't resist showing
this example of 30s cover art from
America, when the paint brush and
airbrush ruled illustration in
magazines, and editors didn't
deface magazines with lists of
content. The
New Yorker
magazine is the only survivor
today of this style, a sight, and
a site, for sore eyes.
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See a San-Nap-Pak
ad from 1945 in American Girl, and a
box of San-Nap-Pak tampons.
© 1999 Harry Finley. It is illegal to
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