See a Tampax tampon ad. See a wrapped Modess pad from about this era, an ad from about this time, and some pad dispensers.
Compare a more somber American ad for Kotex from five years earlier
See more Kotex items: First ad (1921; scroll to bottom of page) - ad, 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in a menstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1935, American/Canadian edition) - 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
See Australian douche ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca douche powder (U.S.A.) (date ?) - Kotique douche liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.) - Liasan (1) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Liasan (2) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Lysol douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Midol ad, 1938 - Midol booklet (selections), 1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Myzone menstrual pain pills ad, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Sterizol douche liquid ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Vionell genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
The Perils of Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page
More Midol: Midol booklet (selections), 1959, and Midol ad, 1938
DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links: homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | 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.

Wrapped Kotex menstrual pad for a dispenser (mid 1930s)

As early as the 1920s women could buy Kotex from West Disinfecting Company dispensers, which dispensed the pad shown below. Note the cross, a feature of Kotex, Modess and other companies at this time, probably to increase the credibility of their products. But Kotex did start out as a bandage during World War I, and Johnson & Johnson, which made (and makes Modess), made bandages. The patents for pads and tampons, by the way, lie in the same section as those for bandages in the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office.

 

The package measures 10" by 4.25" (about 25.4 cm by 11 cm). At the bottom center,
tiny type reads "Copr. Kotex Co. 1933."

 

Note that users were supposed to take the used pad apart, cut the gauze, and flush the parts down the toilet. That's a lot to ask, especially since this pad came from a dispenser in a public place, not at home. Do you carry scissors with you? Here are instructions in Spanish for a version of that operation. See some other allegedly flushable pads, and here (Society napkins).

 

The box above is enlarged from the back of the packaging (above). The back of the wrapped Modess pad from about the same time is blank. See a large magazine ad for the booklet (1932).
Read the advertised booklet, "Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday," and see the envelope it came in; and read two other contemporary booklets from Kotex. Read a 1928 version of the booklet. Ms. Callender wrote the Marjorie May booklets.
Strangely enough, "How shall I tell my daughter" became the title of a series of booklets by Kotex's arch rival, Modess.

See a wrapped Modess pad from about this era, an ad from about this time, and some pad dispensers.

© 1999 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