Pictures
of this cup and others.
Tentative history of this
cup.
Older comments
from users of menstrual cups.
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MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S
HEALTH
Tassette
rubber menstrual cup (catamenial
receptor) prospectus,
instructions, newspaper articles,
promotional leaflets for women,
doctors & medical community (1950s-1960s, U.S.A.) (tentative history
of this cup, pictures
& sketchy history of American menstrual
cups)
Stock
prospectus for Tassette, Inc.
When this museum opened in my house,
in 1994 (it closed in 1998), a
reporter from Seventeen magazine
present asked me (a guy!) what I thought
the best menstrual hygiene
device was. I told her
the menstrual
cup. It was compact and
cheap over the long run.
But many
women did not (and do not) want
to insert, empty, and reinsert
it - especially in public
places. I've received
many e-mails pro and con over the
years about this.
Probably the first modern
American cup (there are patents
for foreign cups about as old or
older) appeared in the 1930s - this
cup, Tassette,
in its earliest incarnation.
Tambrands (former maker of Tampax
tampons) donated this
Tassaway prospectus from 1961 and
the instructional and promotional
literature that follow, some
perhaps older. Like all companies,
Tambrands
followed the activities of its
competitors and pounced on
information about new ones whether
menstrual napkins, cups or fellow
tampons and anything else -
including any drugs to suppress
menstruation.
Read here the interesting
early efforts to sell
this menstrual cup - the difficulties
are familiar to people selling
later cups and to their users.
I thank
the former Tambrands, maker of
Tampax
tampons, for
contributing this material!
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Below:
The black & white prospectus
measures 7 x 9" (about 17.7 x 22.3
cm).
Someone from Tambrands wrote to
the right of the "Class A stock .
. ."; it's probably someone's
initials with a date.
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NEXT page of
prospectus - undated ad: "3 out of 4 nurses use
Tassette" - newspaper article, 20
March 1961: "New
Menstrual Aid Offered on National basis"
-
undated leaflet: "'Tassette'
menstrual cup for internal sanitary
protection" - undated leaflet: "a fresh point of
view" (#1) -
Tassette stock
prospectus, 1961 - "Tassette: the safe
and sanitary menstrual cup" - "a fresh point of
view" (#2) -
"A Note to the Budget
Minded" - "Tassette Menstrual
Cup: The ultimate in Sanitary Protection" - the third "a fresh point of
view" - "THIS
IS TASSETTE"
Pictures of this
cup and others. Tentative history of this
cup. Older comments
from users of menstrual cups.
© 2008 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
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