Some tampon
curiosities: L & F [Lehn & Fink]
Improved Tampons (U.S.A.,
1930s-1940s?) Box,
instructions, some tampons. From the
company that made Lysol.
- Medical tampons mentioned
in newspapers, U.S.A., 1894-1921 - o.b. folder, Germany,
early 1950s (tells
what o.b. means!)
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MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S
HEALTH
St Michael super
menstrual tampons, 1972 (Marks &
Spencer, U.K.)
compared with
Tampax super, 1972
The tampons
I thank
the former Tambrands, once maker
of Tampax tampons, for donating
both boxes!
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Below:
The wrapped St Michael super, 1972
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Below:
St Michael, unveiled, The string is
coiled within the cardboard tube.
See other but older tampons with
Tampax-like cardboard tubes, Sta-Pacs
and Lehn
& Fink New Improved
[menstrual, contraceptive?] Tampon.
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Below:
Tampax, super, 1972, showing its cardboard tubes.
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Below:
St Michael, disassembled.
The outer
(top) tube measures 2
11/16 x 5/8" (6.9 x 1.5 cm),
the inner
(next) 2 13/16 x 9/16"
(7.2 x 1.4 cm).
The plug (absorbing
cotton end) measures about 2 x
5/8" (about 5.2 x 1.5 cm) and the
string
is
3 5/8" (about 9 cm) long.
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Below:
Tampax, disassembled.
The outer
(top) tube measures 2
12/16 x 5/8" (7 x 1.5 cm),
the inner
(next) 3 x 9/16" (7.5 x
1.4 cm).
The plug (absorbing
cotton end) measures about 2 1/2 x
5/8" (about 5.8 x 1.5 cm) and the
string
is 5" (about 12 cm) long.
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Below:
The St Michael string enters the
'pon at the side
of the end,
not the center, and runs down the
outside of the length of the plug
(arrow).
There ARE other
ways to connect the
string to the plug (for example B-ettes,
Fibs, Cashay, Lehn &
Fink).
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Below:
And so does the Tampax string.
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Below:
a Tampax employee pulled the St
Michael plug (the business end)
apart
to examine
it then put it back into the box
the company sent me.
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Below:
Grooves,
probably for gripping, on
the shorter, outer Tampax tube,
which the St Michael lacks.
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So there are some close
similarities but I don't
know if this caused Tampax lawyers
to raise a fuss.
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