CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
HOMEPAGE |

MUM address & What does MUM mean? |
Email the museum |
Privacy on this site |
Who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! |
Art of menstruation (and awesome ancient art of menstruation) |
Artists (non-menstrual) |
Asbestos |
Belts |
Bidets |
Bidets |
Birth control and religion |
Birth control drugs, old |
Birth control douche & sponges |
Founder bio |
Bly, Nellie |
MUM board |
Books: menstruation & menopause (& reviews) |
Cats |
Company booklets for girls (mostly) directory |
Contraception and religion |
Contraceptive drugs, old |
Contraceptive douche & sponges |
Costumes |
Menstrual cups |
Cup usage |
Dispensers |
Douches, pain, sprays |
Essay directory |
Examination, gynecological (pelvic) (short history) |
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, some current |
Puberty booklets for girls and parents |
Religion |
Religión y menstruación |
Your remedies for menstrual discomfort |
Menstrual products safety |
Seguridad de productos para la menstruación |
Science |
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.


The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health
Former museum - future - visit to the museum comic strip

Site guide for historical books, pamplets & booklets promoting patent medicine, douching, hygiene, cups and/or explaining puberty, menstruation, the facts of life, sex companies & nonprofits made for girls, teens, and their parents, women - and sometimes boys
(Pad [towel, napkin] directory - Tampon directory)

Companies (and other organizations) making menstrual products sometimes produced, and produce, literature for women and girls - and boys, for sex education - to explain menstruation, menarche, "the facts of life," and company products.

As far as I know the first booklets appeared in the 1920s, at least in America. Professor Joan Brumberg, of Cornell University, has written about how the teaching of the facts of menstruation passed from the family in the early 19th century to the schools and then to the companies, which sent its information to the schools. And girls who start with the product supplied by a company in school seldom change their brand. So it's an important step for companies to interest the schools in their teaching material. (See "Something Happens to Girls': Menarche and the Emergence of the Modern American Hygienic Imperative" by Joan Jacobs Brumberg, of Cornell University, in the Journal of the History of Sexuality, 1993, vol. 4, no. 1.; see also Lynn Peril's essay on this MUM Web site.)

Read about the changing ages of first menstruation in different cultures.

You can find the following on this Web site.

Menstruation & sex education booklets for and about girls, women & boys

Accent on you (complete booklets, 1970s-1980s?, 1980 & 1983, Tampax, U.S.A.)


Always Changing (complete booklet, 1995, Always pads, Procter & Gamble, U.S.A.)


Always in Style: Your Personal Guide to Choosing Feminine Protection Products (complete folder, 1993, Always pads, Procter & Gamble, U.S.A.) For teenagers.


Are you in the know? Great BOOKLET collection of the etiquette ads Kotex ran for decades (U.S.A., Kotex napkins and belts, 1956)


As one Girl to Another (complete booklet, 1940, Kotex, U.S.A.) Complete, 1943And "No Need to Hem and Haw: Give her this booklet to read - now!" ad from Kotex for the booklet As One Girl to Another, 1942, U.S.A. - "'Have you read the new booklet - As One Girl To Another?'" ad, probably included in a box of Kotex.



Becoming Aware Educational Kit (Complete kit, Kotex, 1992?) Contains booklets for girls and their mothers & sample pads and tampons. Donation from kind site visitor!

See many more kits at the bottom of this page.


Boys: Have you wondered what happens when girls grow up? (complete pamphlet, Personal Products Co., 1973) Quick lessons for probably only mildly interested boys.


Coming of Age by Lawrence H. Mayers, M.D. (complete pamphlet, Tampax Inc., early 1940s?). A frequent Dutch contributor kindly donated the scans.


Congratulations! You're growing up! menstruation: a guide for maturing young women (complete booklet, 1978, Midol pain medication, Glenbrook Laboratories, U.S.A.)



Discovered and overheard secrets in the area of women's hygiene and rejuvenation by Nurse Thekla Buckeley (Dutch, 1928, selections about menstrual hygiene, with my translation into English. Dutch title: Ontdekte en afgeluisterde geheimen op het gebied van dames-hygiene en -verjonging.) Booklet for women about menstrual hygiene among other things. Great picture of the woman of ill repute who represented Camelia menstrual pads. A Dutchman generously sent these scans of his booklet.


Es geht um die besten Jahre Ihres Lebens ! ("It's About the Best Years of Your Life!" 1956?, complete booklet, with my translation into English Tampax, Germany). A Dutchman generously donated the scans of his booklet.


Essence of Womanhood (complete booklet, 1959, Personal Products Corp., Modess tampons, U.S.A.)


Facts About Menstruation that every Woman should know (complete booklet, "By an Eminent Medical Authority," copyright 1933 - 1935 - 1936, International Cellucotton Products Co.)


Facts and Frauds in Woman's Hygiene: A Fearless Exposé of  Misleading Claims and Dangers of Widely Advertised Products Used by Women, 1936 [excerpts about menstrual pads and tampons, their advertising, cost and defects] by Rachel Lynn Palmer and Sarah K. Greenberg, M.D., The Sun Dial Press, New York.

Getting to Know Yourself (complete booklet, 1962, Pursettes lubricated tampons, U.S.A.)


Growing Up and Liking It (complete booklets: 1944, 1949, 1957, 1963, 1964, 1970, 1972, 1976, 1978, 1991. The Personal Products Company, U.S.A.) (many covers, 1944-1991)


Having Your Period (complete booklet, 1985, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc., U.S.A.) Text and pictures are to the point; there's no product to sell.


Health Facts on Menstruation, by Lloyd Arnold, M.D. (here, 1933, Kotex, U.S.A.)


HET RODE BOEKJE OVER ONGESTELD ZIJN

("The Little Red Book About Being Indisposed")
By Renate van der Bas, the Netherlands, 2011. EXCERPT (with my translation into English from Dutch) about Anne (for Annelies) Frank's role in recent Japanese menstruation history.


How Can We Teach About Sex? by Benjamin C. Gruenberg, Public Affairs Pamphlet No. 122, 1946, Public Affairs Committee, Inc, New York City, U.S.A. A prominent sex educator discusses sex education in schools, venereal disease, doctors, religion, the Catholic Church, marriage, divorce, children, character, moral training, parents.



How shall I tell my daughter? [How Shall I Tell My Daughter? in the 1954 edition & Daughter in 1969] (complete booklets, 1954, 1963, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1981, Personal Products Co.) See covers of Modess booklets. Excerpt about how to fasten a pad to a belt and about sanitary panties & a funny story from the 1969 booklet.


Hvordan Kroppen Din Forandrer Seg ("How Your Body Changes," complete booklet, Tampax tampons, Norway, 1990; with my translation into English). A Norwegian kindly donated the booklet.

It's a Woman's World (complete booklet, [1980s?] Tampax, U.S.A.)

it's natural[,] it's normal[,] it has a purpose... by Eleanor Howe (complete booklet)  (1952, Tampax Inc., U.S.A.)


it's time you knew . . . [all about menstruation] (complete booklet, 1966, Tampax, U.S.A.) - undated different version, 1960s-1970s


Just Between Us . . . 1950 edition - (1961 edition, cover & several pages about menstrual belts and panties, Beltx). See Betty Kay's spiraling eyes! Compare hers to the spiraling eyes (in the opposite direction) of the Mad Hatter on a wrapper for LSD.


[The] Life Cycle Library: The Miracle of You, Your Years of Self-Discovery and You and Your Daughter (covers and excerpts, 1968, Kotex, U.S.A.)
(The) Life Cycle Library Kotex): The Miracle of You (complete booklet, 1968)


[The] Life Cycle Library for Young People, Book I (Parent and Child Institute, U.S.A., 1969), Chapter 4, Book I: A Girl Becomes a Woman. In contrast to the Kotex series with a similar name (above), this one is hard cover. It's odd that the two apparently independent series appeared in consecutive years.


Marjorie May Learns About Life (complete booklet, 1936, Kotex, Canada)
Photo of Mary Pauline Collender, author of the Marjorie May stories (biographical information)


Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (almost complete booklet, 1928, Kotex, Australia)(complete booklet, 1935, Canada)(cover, mid-1930s, U.S.A.)(complete booklet, 1938, U.S.A). Photo of Mary Pauline Callender, author of the Marjorie May stories. Biographical information for Mrs. Callender.

Marriage Hygiene: The important part it plays in the ideal marriage (complete booklet, 1932, Lehn & Fink, Inc., distributor of Lysol vaginal douche). Promotional booklet for Lysol & douching.


[Die] Menstruation (excerpts, 1977, o.b. tampons, Germany, with my translation of parts into English). Photographer David Hamilton contributed many photographs to this explicit and beautiful booklet. By the way, "Die" in the title means "the," not to lose life.


Nancy's Biggest Day at Camp (complete booklet, 1941, Modess menstrual pads, U.S.A.) Nancy's biggest day was learning about menstruation at summer camp, not about having her first period there unless the company just didn't want to discuss that. No discussion of tampons, which Modess also made, probably because many people thought they would turn a virgin into a fallen wom-, er, girl, a problem Tampax discussed in an ad. Black and white. Generous gift from an anonymous donor!


now you are 10 (complete booklet, 1958, Kotex, U.S.A.)


Omdat de lijnen van je lichaam veranderen (Dutch; English: As the lines of your body change), 2007, The Netherlands, Libresse pads & puberty booklet


Ontdekte en afgeluisterde geheimen op het gebied van dames-hygiene en -verjonging (by Nurse Thekla Buckeley, 1928?, The Netherlands, selections about menstrual hygiene with my translation of parts into English. English: Discovered and overheard secrets in the area of women's hygiene and rejuvenation) Booklet for women about menstrual hygiene among other things. Great picture of the famous woman of ill repute who represented Camelia menstrual pads. A Dutchman generously sent these scans of his booklet.


Parent's Guide (complete tri-fold, 1992, Kotex) part of Becoming Aware Educational Kit


[The] Periodic Cycle (complete booklet, 1938, The Personal Products Corp., U.S.A., maker of Modess pads) The booklet states that this is for older teenage girls, and is probably a companion to What a trained nurse wrote to her young sister, below.


periods and puberty: a practical guide for girls (complete booklet, 1987, Procter & Gamble, Always pads, U.S.A.)


Personal Hygiene for Women (complete booklet, 1928, Kotex) How to flush Kotex down the toilet, physiology, etc. Contemporary with Kotex's booklet for girls Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday, almost complete booklet, 1928, Australia.


Preparing for Womanhood (almost complete booklet, 1920s, Kotex, Australia)


Q girls & boys A (complete booklet, 1987, Tambrands, U.S.A.) Puberty booklet for girl & boy teens. Explains menstruation, adolescence, personal care, exercise, tampons, menstrual pads, nutrition, TSS, skin care & it promotes Tampax Maxithins, panty shields, & tampons


Sally and Mary and Kate Wondered . . . (complete booklet, cover, 1956, Personal Products Corp., U.S.A.)


Sarah's Story (complete booklet, 1990, Kotex) part of Becoming Aware Educational Kit


Small Wonder: How Tambrands began, prospered and grew (1986, 50th anniversary of the company) history of Tampax Inc. and Tambrands that the company probably commissioned. Tambrands generously donated the beautiful book.


Strictly Feminine (complete booklet with an actual letter from a mother to her daughter's doctor - 1969, Personal Products Co. [Modess], U.S.A.)


Tampax Satin Learner's Kit, 2001, in 3 languages: English. Booklet, pads & tampons
Trousse de l'étudiante French
Estuche de Aprendizaje Spanish


Tell it like it is: Straight talk about tampons (complete booklet, 1968, Kotex stick tampons, U.S.A., revised 1974; complete booklet, 1981, although the title lacks the subtitle "Straight talk about tampons"). I wonder if "straight" alludes to the shape of tampons.


That day is here again . . . (That day is here again . . ., 1944, Kotex, International Cellucotton Products Co., U.S.A.) World War II influences this booklet in drawings and text. A frequent Dutch contributor generously sent the scans.

Very Personally Yours (complete booklets, 1948, 1961, & 1981, Kotex, U.S.A.) The 1948 booklet praises Allah, something Muslims might be as puzzled about as well as believers in other religions.


Volwassen worden ("Growing up," the Netherlands, excerpts, 2004, o.b. tampons)


What a trained nurse wrote to her young sister (complete booklet, probably late 1930s-early 1940s, The Personal Products Corp., U.S.A., maker of Modess pads). Probably a companion to The Periodic Cycle (1938), above, written for older teenage girls.


What a Young Woman Ought to Know, Self and Sex series, 1913, U.K.
Mrs. Mary Wood-Allen, M.D.
Selections


World of a Girl (complete booklet, 1963, Scott Paper Co., U.S.A., Confidets menstrual pads) Colorful, beautiful illustrations.


You and Your Daughter: Asked & Unasked Questions Every Mother Should Answer (complete booklet) Kimberly-Clark, U.S.A., 1968, Kotex: The Life Cycle Library, Volume III (3)


Your Personal Guide to Menstruation and Tampon Usage (complete booklet, U.S.A., 1988, o.b. tampons)


"You're a young lady now" (complete booklets, 1952, 1959, 1961, Kotex, U.S.A.) The first owner might have printed her named on the back of the 1952 booklet.

Douching (see more douching material here)

Facts and Frauds in Woman's Hygiene: A Fearless Exposé of  Misleading Claims and Dangers of Widely Advertised Products Used by Women [excerpts: pp. 142-157 concern Zonite and Lysol, other pages are about menstrual pads and tampons] by Rachel Lynn Palmer and Sarah K. Greenberg, M.D., The Sun Dial Press, New York, 1936. 

Facts for Women (1931, Zonite Products Corporation, New York, Montreal)

German douche and menstrual supplies in 1933, when the Nazis came to power.

The Intimate Side of a Woman's Life by Leona Chalmers, 1937, book, 128 pp. Cleanliness! Douching, bathing, , etc., and the author discusses the menstrual cup, possibly the first in the U.S.A. Also: how to get a man by staying very clean.

Home Treatment of Female Diseases (1894, complete), mostly about how Cardui patent medicine effects cures. With sections on douching.

The "Mon Docteur" Way to Health[,] Vitality[,] and Beauty (1928-29? leaflets, booklets: Leaflet: This is It (covers, pages 2/3, 4/5, 6/7/8) - Leaflet: Every Woman Wants to be Lovely and Belovèd (pages 1/4, 2/3) - Booklet: Why Haven't We Women Been Told This Thing Before? (covers, pages 1/2-3/4, 5/6-7/8, 9/10-11/12, 13/14-15/16, 17/18-19/20, 21/22) - Booklet: The Mon Docteur Treatments)

Mon Docteur vaginal douche set (complete?), with (separate?) documents, American, 1928-29?

Why you shouldn't douche.

Menstrual cups (see more cup material & cups here)

Criticism of menstrual cups, U.S.A., 1930s.

Daintette cup: See instructions for the cup; information about the Dainty Maid douche apparatus (and see a set); and covers of Mon Docteur and Daintette booklets; items the company sold (sells?); "unsolicited testimonial letters," and ads in newspapers seeking women to sell the product at parties.

The Intimate Side of a Woman's Life by Leona Chalmers, 1937, book, 128 pp. Cleanliness! Douching, bathing, etc., and the author discusses the menstrual cup, possibly the first in the U.S.A. Also: how to get a man by staying very clean.

Patent medicine booklets, mainly for women
(see more patent medicine here)

Cardui (Chattanooga Medicine Company)
(see more Cardui material)
The 20th Century Song Book (1904, complete pamphlet)
  Home Treatment of Female Diseases (1894, complete)
  Home Treatment for Women (before 1920?, complete)
  Booklet covers

Dr. R. V. Pierce (Dr. R. V. Pierce's World's Dispensary Medical Association, Buffalo, New York, U.S.A. (see more Pierce material)

Ladies Note Book and Calendar (1914)
(complete pamphlet)

 

The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English; or,
Medicine Simplified
(1895, general excerpts)

The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English; or,
Medicine Simplified
(1895) Excerpts show the variety of physical therapy equipment used.
"The Manipulator" could be used with a table to vibrate body parts and possible sexual usage. Pages 906-7 (Manipulator) | 908-9 | 910-11 (steam-powered Manipulator) | 912-13 | 914-15 | 916-17 | 918-19 (diseases of women)
| 920 (illustration of machine room) | vaginal electrodes | doctor's vibrator set | The Chattanooga vibrator & rectal vibration

Pinkham, Lydia, Medicine Company
(see more Pinkham material)

Come into the Kitchen (complete pamphlet)


Fruits and Candies (complete pamphlet)

 

The Happy Baby (complete pamphlet)


Home Talks (complete pamphlet)

  Landmarks of New England (complete pamphlet)

  Practical Cooking Recipes together with Health Suggestions Concerning the Use of Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound and Other Pinkham Medicines (complete booklet, 1925)


Private Text-Book Upon Ailments Peculiar to Women (complete)


Stretching Your Dollar (complete pamphlet)


Portfolios and guides for teachers

"A Teaching Guide for Menstrual Hygiene" (cover, 1962, Personal Products Corp., U.S.A.)


"A Teacher's Guide to Feminine Hygiene" (cover, 1973, Personal Products Corp., U.S.A.)


"Becoming Aware Educational Kit "(Complete kit, Kotex, 1992?) Contains booklets for girls and their mothers & sample pads and tampons. Donation from kind site visitor!


"Educational Material on Menstruation furnished by the makers of Tampax" (1966) U.S.A.
Folder with huge number of information sheets, etc.


"Educational Portfolio on Menstrual Hygiene" (1968) U.S.A. Teacher's kit for Modess sanitary napkins, menstrual tampons and panties (mostly complete)


"From Fiction to Fact: a teaching guide about puberty, menstruation and the human reproductive system" (complete 1966, 1986, Tambrands, U.S.A. The 1966 version is part of the huge "Educational Material on Menstruation furnished by the makers of Tampax," 1966)


"Teacher's kit" (complete, early 1950s, Personal Products Corp., U.S.A.)

See also . . .

Four Young Men Go In Search Of A Profit!
The Story of Kimberly-Clark Corporation
(1872-1957)
[By] John R. Kimberly
An address at New York to the Newcomen Society in North America, 1957

"Growing Up and Liking It, A Primer of Period Pedagogy, 1868 - 1996" by Lynn Peril

Sex Facts for Women, by Richard L. Lambert, Ph.G. [Graduate Pharmacist], M.D., 1936, New York

Special Book for Women by Gilbert Thayer, 1910s-1920s?, 20 pp., Lafayette, Indiana

Woman's Physical Freedom, by Clelia Duel Mosher, M.D.,
The Womans Press, New York City, U.S.A., 1923, 87 pages

Walt Disney film for Kotex, excerpts