Early 20th-century Japanese ads from publications
- open-crotch drawers, 1890s (U.S.A., from MUM
collection) - Modess "Sanitary Shield"
(two-band pad holder in crotch; 1970s; U.S.A.) - SheShells
bikini (snap open at sides; no special crotch; possibly for menstrual pads
or tampons, 1970s, U.S.A.)
See Kotex ad with a man and no woman from
the Netherlands
Compare the American "Modess, because . .
." ads, a French Modess ad, a French
ad featuring just a man!, and
ads for teens.
See 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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Menstrual napkin belts, pads & sanitary aprons from the 1916, 1918, 1920
and 1938 Butler Brothers wholesale catalogs (U.S.A.)
Menstruation was big business in 1916. In America, women could buy commercial
menstrual belts at least by 1891 (see the Jordan,
Marsh & Co. catalog). Before that time, women probably made their
own menstrual gear based on patterns handed down from mother to daughter
or from the many books advising women how to run a household (see a German
pattern), the chief occupation of middle-class
women. Or they simply used old rags or other absorbent
material - or used nothing at all, but bled into
their clothing.
My eyes popped out at the low prices until I realized that Butler
Brothers was a company that sold its products to stores, which then increased
the prices to its customers - that is, it was a wholesaler.
"Butler Brothers originated in 1877 as a wholesaler selling general
and variety-store merchandise by mail. By the early years of the twentieth
century the company served about 100,000 customers through the United States
and was the largest firm of its type in the country. Rising chain store
competition induced the company to establish in 1927 a chain of franchised
variety stores under the Ben Franklin name." It sold this chain in
1959. [Text from http://sdrc.lib.uiowa.edu/lucile/publishers/butler/butler.htm]
See washable pads and ads for them,
early Kotex, "sanitary underpants
& panties" and more belts.
I thank again the generous contributor from Oregon for these scans!
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Below: Everything a woman could want for
menstruation in 1916! Well, she might have also wanted Midol
or other patent medicine for discomfort. Commercial
tampons specifically for menstruation didn't appear until the early
1930s, maybe about the same time as cups;
both seem to have had a tough time in sales.
At top: "New ideas of health and comfort
. . . ." probably refers to germ theory and the rediscovery of the
value of bathing.
"The sure sellers . . . ." reminds
me of later pitches to stores on what and how
to sell. See also How to sell Kotex page for
trade publications, probably early 1920s, U.S.A.
"Quicken the turn" in the box at
bottom must mean hasten the turnover. Nice phrase!
See how women wore a sanitary apron.
At least one of the items is named "serviette," French for
napkin, another early name for menstrual pads (napkins).
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© 2007 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any
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