Ad for German washable pads, about 1900 - nineteenth-century Norwegian washable pads - contemporary washable pads - American belt, about 1945 - directory of belts - washable pad introduction - pad directory - women sometimes wore washable pads with a sanitary apron
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:
homepage | MUM 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.

THE MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S HEALTH

German washable menstrual pads and belt, with case (about 1935-40)

The majority of German women used washable pads made at home - if they used anything at all (read about using nothing) - until Camelia (see an early ad) appeared, the first widely successful toss-away pad in Germany, in 1926 (national advertising of Kotex, America's first widely successful disposable, started in 1921.) (The information comes from Zur Geschichte der Unterwäsche. 1700-1960; details in small type, below)

In 1940 German women probably saw these pads and belt as not really old fashioned, especially since their country was fighting a war and throwing away used pads was wasteful (as it is today, really). Commercial tampons probably didn't appear till after the war, perhaps brought by Americans, and the German native brand (and maybe the first commercial one in Europe), o.b. - which doesn't have anything to do with obstetrics, as many Americans have told me, but stands for the German ohne Binde, "without a napkin" (proof) - appeared in the early 1950s (see an early ad).

See an American belt from roughly this date.
The pictures and technical information come from Junker, Almut and Stille, Eva.: Zur Geschichte der Unterwäsche. 1700-1960. Eine Ausstellung des Historischen Museums Frankfurt 28. April bis 28. August 1988; FfM, Germany (Historisches Museum) 1988, the catalog of an exhibit in the history museum of Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 1988.

The belt is pink (rosa), made of rubber and cotton fabric. The cotton sack holds the pads (details below) and belt.
Enlargements lie below.

 

 

Bottom pictures (enlargements of parts of the top picture):
Left:  The arrow points to a glass button on the cotton belt-attachment; directly above it is a metal clamp or fastener (Klammer), which I think acts to support the button.
Right: Button holes in the ends of the washable pads, which are made of machine-knitted white cotton and white cotton fabric.
See very similar Norwegian washable pads from the previous century.
Ad for German washable pads, about 1900 - nineteenth-century Norwegian washable pads - contemporary washable pads - American belt, about 1945 - directory of belts - washable pad introduction - pad directory - Women sometimes wore washable pads with a sanitary apron

© 2001 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org