See an exhibit of the history of the Norwegian
branch of this company - see a Danish Saba ad
- more supposedly flushable pads
Norwegian knitted menstrual pads from the nineteenth
century, probably similar to those used by Swedes
Kotex ad emphasizing shame, 1992
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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Ad for Mimosept Saba thin, flushable menstrual
pads, 1981, Sweden
About the time of this ad pads everywhere were becoming thinner because
of new technology and materials. About ten years earlier
the other modern "revolution" occurred, with sticky
pads adhering to the crotches of ordinary underpants (see
New Freedom, 1970) replacing belts holding the pads inside underpants
- or special underpants with various grasping devices (here's a Modess "Sanitary Shield" from 1972).
Swedes probably used knitted pads similar to
these Norwegian pads in the nineteenth century and before - and maybe
into the twentieth.
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Here's a mini overview of the full-page ad. See a bigger version at the bottom of the page.
My translation of the big words at top:
"I hardly dared trust such a thin pad, but
now I'm happy I tried."
Words at bottom:
Mimosept Saba. Effective and discreet. Just half
as thick.
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We see the bulge of the pad
in the underpants, a sin punishable by death in American advertising, which
strives to eliminate all trace of menstruation. More Swedish
bulges.
Left: The beloved blue of the Swedish flag - which may be the most beautiful
of all flags - originates in the sky and water of Sweden. Once, on the train
to Copenhagen, I met a Swedish girl and spent a week in her town of Nyköping,
on the Baltic Sea, where we experienced scenes just like this. Are you still
there, Barbro? Oops, back to work! "Spolbar" means "flushable."
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Left: A visitor in the actual Museum of Menstruation pointed
out to me that this woman looks right at the ad viewer,
something rare in menstrual products advertising. In contrast to the confident
girl looking at the viewer in a German Camelia
ad, this Swedish flicka appears uncomfortable
to me, although a good sport, as if she had lost a bet and had to appear
in her underwear in a menstrual-pad ad.
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I'll take a shot at translating the above ad copy:
Now and then innovations appear that involve big
changes, like now, when a pad suddenly becomes really comfortable and discreet
menstrual protection.
The new pad is called Mimosept Saba, which is only half as thick as the
usual pad, but still effective, even when one has a heavy period.
Mimosept Saba is so thin that you will perhaps hesitate, but you can let
it replace any pad you want.
Writing under the drawings:
[left] The usual pad is this thick [right]
Mimosept Saba is merely half as thick
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I translate the above text as:
Try Mimosept Saba yourself next time. You'll be
surprised about how well it absorbs. The menses are drawn into the pad and
don't remain on the surface.
Mimosept Saba costs about what other pads do and flushes down the toilet.
See some other supposedly flushable
pads.
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See an exhibit of the history of the Norwegian
branch of this company - see a Danish Saba ad
- more supposedly flushable pads. Norwegian
knitted menstrual pads from the nineteenth century
© 2000 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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