See also 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 menstrual
pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol booklet (selections),
1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.)
- Myzone menstrual pain pill, 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 ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
 
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Vaginal hygiene (douching) in The
Intimate Side of a Woman's Life, by Leona W. Chalmers (1937, Pioneer
Publications, Inc., Radio City, New York)
Leona Chalmers, who patented her menstrual cup
the year this book appeared (read her discussion
of it in this book), advocated douching, the flushing
out of the vagina with water or another liquid. Many writers and
doctors also promoted it until recently. Experts today do not recommend
routine douching and douching for many special purposes because it upsets
the healthy ecology of the vagina, sometimes worsening the very condition
it's supposed to cure. Read an essay about this.
Remember when you read her discussion of gonorrhea that this chapter
appeared before the use of antibiotics. You'll note several other outmoded
beliefs and practices, as well as some substandard editing of the text,
including capitalization of the wrong words, by today's standards, at least.
Chalmers emphasizes sex appeal and uses the word feminine
in the way many menstrual products companies do, to lessen the unpleasantness
many women felt, and feel, about things and processes "down there."
"Dainty" and "daintiness" often have the same function
and crop up on boxes and in advertising. Both words appear on the sparsely
worded box for the "Faultless" syringe pictured here.
Read a general discussion of the book and
douching information from Mon Docteur, a company
roughly contemporary, and associated with the Daintette
menstrual cup - yes, Daintette.
The director of the cytology section of a state
public health department kindly donated the book.
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Left, from the museum collection: A "Faultless Feminine Syringe," No. 240, made
by the Faultless Rubber Company, Ashland, Ohio, U.S.A., perhaps from the
1960s or 1970s.
The damaged box bears the phrases, "FEMININE SYRINGE FOR PERSONAL
DAINTINESS" and "FLEXIBLE SOFT RUBBER PIPE."
Companies often write "Feminine" and "dainty" into
advertising copy for women's products.
Mrs. Chalmers would have approved of this syringe.
SarahAnne Hazlewood generously donated the syringe and box (not shown)
to this museum.
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© 2000 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work
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