The manufacturer of fax
produced several undated documents for dealers, explaining that newspapers
in the following American cities would advertise the tampon, with other
cities added "as distribution develops":
Akron, Albany, Atlanta, Baltimore, Binghamton,
Birmingham, Boston, Bridgeport, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Charleston, Charlotte,
Chattanooga, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver,
Des Moines, Detroit, Duluth, El Paso, Erie, Evansville, Fort Wayne, Fort
Worth, Grand Rapids, Harrisburg, Houston, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas
City (Mo.), Knoxville, Little Rock, Lincoln, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis,
Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, Newark, New Orleans, New York,
Norfolk, Oakland, Oklahoma City, Omaha, Peoria, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh,
Portland (Ore.), Providence, Richmond, Rochester, Sacramento, St, Louis,
St. Paul, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco, Seattle, Sioux City,
South Bend, Spokane, Springfield (Mass.), Syracuse, Tacoma, Trenton, Utica,
Washington, Wichita and Wilkesbarra
I suggest looking in newspaper archives in these cities, starting
around 1935 and moving toward the 1920s. I give reasons elsewhere for believing
that fax is a very early tampon, maybe
the earliest. Prove
me right or wrong!
Here's some text from
the document containing the cities shown above:
a new freedom for women [This title is written in huge, all lower-case type. The word fax
is always lower-case and italic.]
A constantly changing world brings a never-ending stream
of new ideas, better methods, more comforts, greater freedom. It has long
since eliminated the flouncing petticoats, the bulging bustle and other
uncomfortable garments.
Now comes the greatest freedom of all, the elimination
of the cumbersome, chafing, binding sanitary napkin to be replaced by fax,
the invisible sanitary napkin [it
doesn't say "tampon," perhaps an unfamiliar word to the public]. No pins, no pads, no belts. Nothing to wear that that can show
even in a close-fitting bathing suit.
Absolutely safe. Complete protection every day.
So comfortable that the wearer is unaware of its presence. Nothing to injure
or even irritate delicate tissues.
Soothingly smooth before use and a soft, fluffy highly
absorbent invisible pad in use.
fax is a scientific combination
of old ideas [this line is in large,
bold type] [end of document text]
Compare this language to a newspaper ad for Tampax from
1937 (Tampax started in 1936): "Tampax
is a new method of sanitary protection which eliminates the external pad
entirely . . . Tampax is worn internally. . . . Tampax eliminates belts,
pins, pads and the chafing, binding discomfort and embarrassment that go
with them . . . . [The word "tampon" is never
mentioned here either, as it is not in the Wix ad
from 1934. The Wix language is also similar to the language of these two
other products.]
