See also 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 menstrual
pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol booklet (selections),
1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.)
- 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
And read Lynn Peril's series about these
and similar booklets!
See more Kotex items: First ad
(1921) - ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog)
- Lee Miller ads (first real person in amenstrual
hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday
(booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here
to Kotex items) - 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
 
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Spalt menstrual-pain tablets ad (1936, Germany, in Frauen Warte magazine)
Women experience menstrual pain in many cultures, maybe all; we know
it at least from the time of fifth-century B.C.E. Greece, when the disappearance
of pain coinciding with the appearance of bleeding amazed Hippocrates, who
then thought that taking blood from men might cure their
ills.
Nazi Germany was no exception, as the ad below shows. Compare a Midol menstrual-pain relief ad from almost the same
time in America.
Both illustrations come from the book Die unpäßliche
Frau, by Sabine Hering and Gudrun Maierhof (Pfaffenweiler, Germany,
1991).
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"Spalt" in German
means "slot" or
"split," maybe referring to the prominently shown feature
that allows the tablet to be easily broken in half. Or it might be be someone's
name. Or . . . .
The woman probably is wearing a nurse's cap (which has disappeared in the
U.S.A.) thus making a medical endorsement in the reader's mind, something
that Kotex, Modess and probably many other brands in many countries tried
to create. Note the calendar with a crossed-off day.
Here's my translation:
(slanted words at top): Days that you fear
(small words under the top picture): These
days are disagreeable enough. You at least try to battle the pain. The well-known
"Spalt tablets" are designed just for headaches and other pains
in critical days [code words for the days of menstruation; see other
words for menstruation].
Spalt tablets are made so they fight the cramp origins of headache. For
your convenience, each pack of twenty comes with an extra little tin, enabling
you to carry a few tablets with you. [Neat! Americans used to be
able to buy aspirin in tins.]
Price: ten for 62 Pfennigs, 20 for one Reichs Mark and 16 Pfennigs and 60
for two Reichs Marks and 85 Pfennigs. Available in all pharmacies.
[In Germany, people buy drugs in pharmacies and buy many of the other things
that Americans find in their drugstores in a Drogerie, which does not sell
prescription drugs. There'll be a quiz tomorrow.]
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The Spalt ad appeared in a 1936 issue of the magazine above;
this is a later front cover.
Frauen Warte means "Women's Watch Tower,"
or, figuratively perhaps, "Women's Viewpoint."
The Nazis idealized these strapping German women with their blonde bouncing
Bubs and Mädels - a Bub, pronounced "boob," probably to your
astonishment, is colloquial German for "boy, " and a Mädel
is a - Yes! You've got it! - girl.
The "NS," below the
swastika (upper left), stands for "Nazionalsozialismus,"
National Socialism, which most people shorten to Nazis,
the political group that ran Germany from the early 1930s to 1945. The peculiar
style of the letters reflects the Nazis' attempt to bring German origins
to peoples' consciousness, because the letters imitate the runes,
a writing system of very early Germans and Scandinavians (runes supposedly
have been found in the U.S.A.).
Underneath Frauen Warte we read, "The
only official party magazine for women," party meaning, of course,
the Nazi party, not Martha-Stewart-like advice on how to throw one.
Then, below, it reads, "the 23rd issue of the seventh
volume, 1 May 1939. Mothers Day, 1939."
The Germans would start World War II in Europe in a little over four months.
See also ads (in German) from the catalog
of the German company Thalysia,
showing douche and menstruation supplies, 1933.
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NEXT: Vionell genital spray ad (Germany)
© 2000 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
See also 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 menstrual
pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol booklet (selections),
1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.)
- 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
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