See Kotex ad with a man and no woman from the Netherlands
Compare the American "Modess, because . . ." ads, a French Modess ad, a French ad featuring just a man!, and ads for teens.
See 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
Ads for the Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A., 1970s) - a Japanese stick tampon from the 1970s.
Early commercial tampons - Rely tampon - Meds tampon (Modess)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepageMUM 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.

Plastic Bag from a German Drug Store

In the early 1990s the clerk at the checkout register of a Müller's drugstore (a Drogerie, which doesn't fill prescriptions; that's done in an Apotheke) in Heidelberg, Germany, slapped this plastic shopping bag down (for 10 Pfennige, about seven cents at the time) on the counter for me to put my soap and toothbrush in. In many stores in Germany, the customer fills her (his) own bag, which he (she) often brings with him (her).

But I doubt that a customer in America could ever get a bag with Kotex advertised on the side (but see what Kotex once did!) - or would want one! - which is basically the case here. Freedom (see a German ad, American ads for Kotex tampons, and a box of tampons of the French version) is a line of menstrual pads, tampons and panty pads made by Kimberly-Clark, which also makes Kotex in the U.S.A.

Many Germans understand American English, and many young Germans regard it and America as "cool" and modern - young, as a Swedish girl once explained to me (she had just returned from a summer in France, which she thought was "old"), thus maybe explaining its use here.

Did 100 Americans understand Fahrvergnügen ("driving enjoyment") in the Volkswagen ad campaign of about a decade ago in the U.S.A?

The words under "Freedom" mean - get ready for this - Menstrual hygiene that's fun! (The last words mean "pads, tampons, panty pads.") Those Germans will stop at nothing for a good time!

At least that's better than the gloomy view most people and cultures hold of menstruation.

© 1999 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