Possibly
the first American disposable pad: Lister's Towels
Early Midol
ads for headache, hiccups, and PMS.
See a prototype
of the first Kotex ad.
See more Kotex items: Ad
1928 (Sears and Roebuck
catalog) - Marjorie
May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls,
1928, Australian edition; there are many links
here to Kotex items) - 1920s booklet in Spanish
showing disposal
method - box
from about 1969 - Preparing
for
Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls) - "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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The Museum of Menstruation and Women's
Health
Early ads for
American menstrual pads
Paper and cloth menstrual pads
Newspapers, U.S.A.
Kotex was not the first American
disposable pad, as the ads below show.
Yes, Johnson & Johnson made the
throw-away Lister's
Towels - pads - in the late 19th
century but who would've guessed there
were other makers of the pads in the
1910s and 1920s? Not me!
As you can see (and here, too)
companies sold washable cloth pads
along with paper pads. Cloth pads
gradually faded during the 1920s in
America (but not in Germany!)
only to revive
in the last quarter or so of the 20th
century, partly from ecological
concerns, partly from women accepting
their periods..
I thank the generous Ben Truwe
for sending these copies and many
others!
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Below:
From the Fitchburg,
Massachusetts, Sentinel, Oct.
7, 1889
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Below:
From the New-York Times, Oct.
20, 1891 (p. 12)
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Below:
(Arrow) from the Lowell,
Massachusetts, Sun, June 21, 1911 (p.
20)
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Below:
(Arrow) from the Connellsville,
Pennsylvania, Daily Courier, September
5, 1913
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Below:
from Harper's Bazaar, October 15, 1887
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Below:
from Philadelphia Medical Times,
January 15, 1881
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Below:
from The Ladies' Home Journal and
Practical Housekeeper, March 1887.
It's a reply to a question from a
reader ("Prospective Mother") from an
earlier issue.
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| See more early
newspaper ads and early Kotex
newspaper ads |
© 2008 Harry Finley. It is illegal to
reproduce or distribute 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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