See more Tampax items: American
ad from August 1965 - nudity in an ad: May 1992 (United Kingdom) - a sign
advertising Tampax during World War II - the original patent
- an instruction sheet from the 1930s
See a Modess True or False? ad in The American
Girl magazine, January 1947, and actress Carol Lynley
in "How Shall I Tell My Daughter" booklet ad (1955) - Modess . . . . because ads (many dates).
 
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Was Tampax the first French commercial tampon?
Tampax menstrual tampons, 1938, France and U.S.A.
Boxes
Tampax was probably the first commercial tampon in the U.S.A. (but see
some contenders: Nunap, Moderne
Woman, fax) although women have
probably made their own for thousands of years (see some hieroglyphics
about tampons).
In Small Wonder, the Tampax company
history, the writer claims that in late 1938 Tampax created a company
in England to do business in continental Europe, which would include France.
But as you can see, a Tampax hand marked the box below as 17 June 1938,
not exactly late. Maybe the American Tampax company shipped these to France
before continental operations started (the French box says it was printed
in the U.S.), although you'll also notice in the bottom images that there
was a French base of operations - or at least that's the way it looks to
me. Ah! The romance of a menstrual mystery!
Compare the French box with an American one from
three months earlier, below, both gifts from the Tampax archives.
See Dutch Tampax ads from 1938 (and here, virtually identical to a contemporary
American ad) - which means Tampax was sold there. And look how similar the
boxes are to the ones below.
The boxes measure 13 x 7.7 x 3 cm (about 5" x 3" x 1.125")
See many early tampons from the U.S.A. See instructions for the 1936 Tampax - and the box, etc.
Tambrands generously donated these boxes, part of a large gift of menstrual products from its archives.
Harry Finley created the images.
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Fronts, ABOVE. Someone from Tampax
wrote the dates on the upper right corners. The backs look the same,
but without notations.
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Above and below: the long sides.
Below: See the safety
pins the words mention.
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Below: the ends. Cellophane encases the
French box but not the American;
someone at Tambrands probably removed it.
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NEXT: sample box (France)
and American six-pack, typography, tampons,
interior of directions, exterior
of directions
See more Tampax items: See instructions
for the 1936 Tampax - and the box, etc. See Dutch
Tampax ads from 1938 (and here, virtually identical
to a contemporary American ad)American ad from
August 1965 - nudity in an ad: May
1992 (United Kingdom) - a sign advertising
Tampax during World War II - the original patent
- an instruction sheet from the 1930s
copyright 2006 Harry Finley
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