See some pad dispensers and ads for pads that come with pouches: New
Freedom and Whenever, from the U.S.A., and
Camelia, from Germany.
And read Lynn Peril's series about these
and similar booklets!
See more 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
 
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Disposal bags for menstrual napkins, page 1 (pages 2,
3, 4, 5)
Ms. Mel Terras, of Christ Church, University of Oxford, England, kindly
sent me five disposal bags she found traveling through Europe; that inspired
this page. I added a few the museum already had and added many more later.
These bags, of course, women use to hold used pads before they throw
them away - not down the toilet, we hope. (Here are some examples
of pads companies designed to be flushable
- theoretically.) Many women simply wrap toilet paper around used pads before
they toss them into the myriad containers designed for that purpose (a future
feature on this site).
Note that the European printing colors, below, are reds
and browns (and black), whereas the
American are as far away from that as possible (with one possible exception). People, including myself,
have criticized the menstrual products companies for using the famous blue
for showing how pads absorbed menstrual discharge. (Read how the famous
American efficiency expert Dr.
Lillian Gilbreth also criticized blue on menstrual
products packaging, in 1927, which appeared again and again.)
And note the flowers, a frequent companion to menstrual products (here's an
example for a menstrual cup).
I appeared on a Canadian television business program in the mid-1990s
discussing the colors used on packaging for menstrual products. The woman
moderator and I noted that if we extend the reasoning that menstrual products
deserve red or brown printing instead of the blue liquid showing pad and
tampon absorbency then toilet paper wrapping should
be brown and yellow, for feces and urine. Right?
The lady and I were doing our best to not burst out laughing.
The bags differ slightly in size; I picture them
as all the same width for the sake of fit.
LONG DOWNLOAD!
Pages 2, 3
4, 5 of disposal
bags
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Picked up in Lincoln, England (late 1990s)
(gift of Ms. Mel Terras, Christ Church, University of Oxford)
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Picked up in Glasgow, Scotland (late 1990s)
On reverse: Southalls Hygiene Services Ltd
Alum Rock Road, Birmingham B8 3DZ
Tel: 0121-328-9666
(gift of Ms. Mel Terras, Christ Church, University of Oxford)
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Picked up in Oslo, Norway (late 1990s)
The writing: For better hygiene"
*Stick the used pad/tampon into the bag
*Put the bag into the pad box
(gift of Mel Terras, Christ Church, University of Oxford)
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American? (1990s) (the words "sanitary napkin"
seem uniquely American)
(anonymous gift)
The scale applies to all items on the page.
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Picked up in Berlin, Germany (late 1990s)
(gift of Mel Terras, Christ Church, University of Oxford)
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Picked up in Oxford, England (late 1990s)
(gift of Mel Terras, Christ Church, University of Oxford)
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American (1990s)
(anonymous gift)
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back of bag at left
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American (1990s)
from a commercial airplane;
comes with a clean pad
(anonymous gift)
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back of bag at left
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American (1990s)
(anonymous gift)
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© 1999-2004 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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