More menstrual and everyday underpants
Japanese, early 20th century - "Sanitary Bloomers," 1922 (ad from Sears, Roebuck catalog, U.S.A.) - various underpants, 1928 (page from Sears, Roebuck catalog) - step-in, Hickory, 1928 (ad from Vanity Fair magazine, U.S.A.) - first Sears everyday underpants (nonmenstrual), 1935 (ad from Sears, Roebuck catalog) - various underpants (and belts), 1946-47 (page from Sears, Roebuck catalog) - various underpants, 1960s (part of Personal Digest, Modess, U.S.A.) - Modess Sanitary Shield (1972)
See the B-ettes tampon. See the tampon directory.
Ads for teens (see also introductory page for teenage advertising): Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and Quest napkin powder, 1948, U.S.A.), Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins, 1953, U.S.A.), Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and belts, 1964, U.S.A.), Freedom (1990, Germany), Kotex (1992, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Saba (1975, Denmark)
More ads for teens: 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.

SheShells underpants (1970s; U.S.A.)

I don't know if SheShells ever had a big market, but it was another in a long line of devices to overcome the limitations of pads and tampons, such as their ability to hold pads in place and to contain leakage from the tampon or pad. It seems to be from a company not associated with a pad manufacturer.

Below: SheShells appeared in several colors and sizes (this is a yellow size 7 - large) and showed up in small ads in at least one women's magazine, Seventeen. Although the label (one section is below) indicates it's useful for menstruation, the crotch is the usual double cotton layer with no special protection for blood leakage, such as plastic or rubber; I suspect this was its limitation.
Its virtue was that a woman could take it off by unhitching the sides so that she could keep her pants or pantyhose on.
Betraying its post-belt-era origins is the lack of a special attachment for a pad in the crotch, such as the bands in the Modess Sanitary Shield, which was also from the 'Seventies. Pads at this time, and today, stick to the bottom of the panty, a great invention.
Although the bikini bathing suit got its name from the island where the 1946 atomic bomb test occurred(a Paris designer named it so because of the suit's "explosive" effect), bikini-like clothing - low-lying bottoms having only a narrow band of material at the sides - has been around for a long time, appearing in a Sicilian mural almost two thousand years ago. Bathing suits since the last century had been getting smaller and smaller; this culminated in Rudi Gernreich's topless suit in 1964, which had a very high-cut bottom; so much for the bikini.








Below: This is probably an ad from Seventeen magazine, probably in the 1970s. The ad is missing its lower part.

 

 

This is one of two identical color flap labels attached to the underpants. I quibble, but I think the stylized lettering is too complicated - and maybe the sea horses should be shells.
First Sears everyday underpants (nonmenstrual), 1935 (ad from Sears, Roebuck catalog)

More menstrual and everyday underpants
Japanese, early 20th century - "Sanitary Bloomers," 1922 (ad from Sears, Roebuck catalog, U.S.A.) - various underpants, 1928 (page from Sears, Roebuck catalog) - step-in, Hickory, 1928 (ad from Vanity Fair magazine, U.S.A.) - first Sears everyday underpants (nonmenstrual), 1935 (ad from Sears, Roebuck catalog) - various underpants (and belts), 1946-47 (page from Sears, Roebuck catalog) - various underpants, 1960s (part of Personal Digest, Modess, U.S.A.) - Modess Sanitary Shield (1972)
© 2011 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or
distribute any of the work on this Web site in any
manner or medium without written permission of the author.
Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org