Compare the "Silent Purchase" Modess ad (June 1928), the American "Modess . . . . because" ads, a Modess ad from 1931, the French Modess, and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.See a mostly complete list of pad ads (and tampon ads) and underpants & panties on this site.See a prototype of the first Kotex ad.See more Kotex items: Ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls) - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main pageAds for the Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A., 1970s)
- a Japanese stick tampon from the 1970s.
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Kotex menstrual pad ad, U.S.A., 1953
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In order to sell something companies find out what people want and give that to them.In America women have usually wanted to hide the fact that they're menstruating (some cultures want the public to know that women are menstruating).Modess and Kotex, the major competitors for the menstrual pad market through much of 20th century America, assure women in these ads that no one will see the pad when wearing closely fitting clothing. 'Twould be the end of the world if anyone did - how horrible to be human! |
Below: This 1953 large (10.5 x 14" - about 27 x 35.5 cm) color ad from Modess's main competitor is less stylish than the usual Modess ad. The title and text and picture speak to the concern women have had in America about other people knowing they are menstruating. The confidant model - smiling, hands on hips, wearing her semi-tight "new Jamaica length" shorts - worries not a bit unless - unless - tha darn thing comes unhooked from her belt. Panties with a special holder were safer. |
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Below: Click
to see Kotex promoting the same concern 23 years earlier.
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See a Modess ad from 1931, the French Modess, and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.
See a mostly complete list of pad ads (and tampon ads) and underpants & panties on this site.