See more
Tampax items: American ad from August 1965 - nudity in
an ad: May 1992 (United
Kingdom) - a sign
advertising Tampax during World War II - the
original patent
- an instruction
sheet from the 1930s
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).
|
Was Tampax the
first French commercial tampon?
Tampax menstrual tampons, 1938, France
and U.S.A.
Boxes
Tampax was probably the first
commercial tampon in the U.S.A. (but
see some contenders: Nunap, Moderne Woman,
fax)
although women have probably made
their own for thousands of years (see
some hieroglyphics
about tampons).
In Small
Wonder, the Tampax company
history, the writer claims that in late
1938 Tampax created a company in
England to do business in continental
Europe, which would include France.
But as you can see, a Tampax hand
marked the box below as 17 June 1938,
not exactly late. Maybe the American
Tampax company shipped these to France
before continental operations started
(the French box says it was printed in
the U.S.), although you'll also notice
in the bottom images that there was a
French base of operations - or at
least that's the way it looks to me. Ah! The romance of a
menstrual mystery!
Compare the
French box with an American one from
three months earlier, below, both
gifts from the Tampax archives.
See Dutch
Tampax ads from 1938 (and here,
virtually identical to a contemporary
American ad) - which means Tampax was
sold there. And look how similar the
boxes are to the ones below.
The boxes measure 13 x 7.7 x 3 cm
(about 5" x 3" x 1.125")
See many early
tampons from the U.S.A. See instructions for the 1936 Tampax
- and the box, etc.
Tambrands generously donated
these boxes, part of a large gift of
menstrual products from its
archives.
Harry Finley created the images.
|
 |
Fronts, ABOVE. Someone from Tampax
wrote the dates on the upper right
corners. The backs look the same,
but without notations.
|
 |
Above
and below: the long sides. Below: See
the safety pins
the words mention.
|
 |
Below: the
ends. Cellophane encases the
French box but not the American;
someone at
Tambrands probably removed it.
|
NEXT: sample box (France) and
American six-pack, typography, tampons, interior of
directions, exterior
of directions
See more
Tampax items: See instructions
for the 1936 Tampax - and the box,
etc. See Dutch
Tampax ads from 1938 (and here,
virtually identical to a contemporary
American ad)American ad from August 1965 -
nudity in an ad: May 1992 (United
Kingdom) - a sign
advertising Tampax during World War II
- the original patent -
an instruction
sheet from the 1930s
copyright 2006 Harry Finley
|
|
