Compare the almost
contemporary (2001) Tampax tampon puberty
booklet (Tampax
Satin Learner's Kit)
in English, Spanish and French.
See a Kotex ad
advertising a Marjorie May booklet.
See many more similar booklets.
See ads for
menarche-education booklets: Marjorie May's Twelfth
Birthday (Kotex, 1932), Tampax
tampons (1970, with Susan Dey), Personal Products
(1955, with Carol Lynley), and German o.b. tampons (lower
ad, 1981)
And read Lynn Peril's series
about these and similar booklets!
Read the full text of the 1935 Canadian edition
of Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday, probably
identical to the American edition.
More ads for teens (see also introductory page for
teenage advertising): Are
you in the know?
(Kotex napkins and Quest napkin powder, 1948,
U.S.A.), Are
you in the know?
(Kotex napkins and belts, 1949, U.S.A.)Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins, 1953, U.S.A.),
Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and belts,
1964, U.S.A.), Freedom
(1990, Germany), Kotex (1992, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Saba (1975, Denmark)
See early tampons
and a list of tampon
on this site - at least the ones I've cataloged.
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Volwassen
worden ("Growing up," excerpts),
menstruation and puberty booklet for
teenage girls, the Netherlands (2004,
o.b. tampons)
Cover,
Introduction (p. 1)
The booklets American
menstrual-products companies published
for girls started in the 1920s with
the restrained Marjorie
May series, using theatrical and
upper-middle-class language and
behavior, and evolved quickly into the
colloquial and relaxed Growing Up and
Liking It, (1944). But apart
from minor increases in boldness
America has held on to its prudery.
Not so the Europeans! In at least
two booklets o.b. tampons, which the
American company Johnson & Johnson
bought in the 1970s, has ventured
where no other American company has
dared tread. Of course these booklets
are not in English but in German and
Dutch, sparing the eyes and ears of
the Anglo-Saxon cultures.
One of these booklets starts below.
By using drawings instead of photos,
which the other
booklet used, the impact of the
explicitness is lessened. Nevertheless
I don't believe you'd ever see
anything similar in an American
publication for kids.
All companies' booklets pitch their
products, as does this one on page 43 and
elsewhere.
Note the influence of Japanese manga
drawings in the eyes of the
characters.
The opening sentence, below, calls
puberty the most fascinating phase of
life. I'd call it the roller coaster
phase, and if you find roller coasters
fascinating, great.
The booklet measures 4.25 x 5.75"
(11 x 14.7 cm) and has 64 pages plus
four covers.
I thank the Dutch contributor, who
has donated many valuable items to the
museum!
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© 2006 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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