See how a woman wore a belt
in a Dutch ad. See a classy 1920s ad for a belt
and the first ad (1891) MUM has for a belt.
 
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Belts to hold menstrual pads, part 1 (part 2)
Women wore commercial belts at least from the latter part of the nineteenth
century (the earliest ad the museum has is an American one dated 1891). Because self-adhesive pads became available only
in the early 1970s, if women used pads, they had to wear belts, suspenders, "sanitary panties,"
(underpants with hooks or tabs or something else to hold the pad in place)
- or invent some way of getting the pad to stay in place.
Companies sold probably hundreds of varieties of belts in the past hundred
years, but the industry almost disappeared in the
early 1970s with the advent of pads with adhesive (Stayfree
and New Freedom).
Many belts, sanitary aprons & underpants from the Butler,
Smyth and Savage catalogs, early 20th century.
See 3 ads for American belts, 1949 and 1955,
and a booklet for girls by Beltx.
Many files, long download!
Belts, part 2
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The box at left contains not only the belt (right) but a
folder. See everything here and mostly bigger.
My guess is that this dates from before the mid-1920s, which I explain here. ("Hoosier" means Indiana, a state
in America; it possibly comes from an English dialect.) The donor of the
belt generously gave MUM many other items, some below and some to be added
later.
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The typography suggests that this stems from the 1930s or
1940s. (American)
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The typography indicates a date
from the 1930s or 1940s. (Canadian)
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The seller, a medical supply dealer, advertised this as being
from the 1940s. See the belt "unfurled," below (click for larger image). (American)
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The box is crushed. The picture of the woman probably reflects
the "Modess . . . . because" ad campaign,
dating this belt between the late 1940s and the early 1970s. A writer says
she got one in school in 1964. (American)
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Above: the belt in the package above. Click on it to
enlarge.
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The box bears a copyright of 1970. (American)
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This American belts bears a copyright of 1951. See the contents.
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The box bears a copyright of 1970. (American)
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The box bears a copyright of 1973. (American)
Below: Back of box
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© 2007 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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