More ads for teens (see also introductory page for teenage advertising): Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and Quest napkin powder, 1948, U.S.A.), Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins, 1953, U.S.A.), Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and belts, 1964, U.S.A.), Freedom (1990, Germany), Kotex (1992, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Saba (1975, Denmark)
More ads for teens: See a Modess True or False? ad in The American Girl magazine, January 1947, and actress Carol Lynley in "How Shall I Tell My Daughter" booklet ad (1955) - Modess . . . . because ads (many dates). Freedom (1990, Germany), Kotex (1992, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Saba (1975, Denmark)
DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links: homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets for girls (mostly) directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | 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, current | puberty booklets for girls and parents | religion | Religión y menstruación | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | Seguridad de productos para la menstruación | 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.

Patriotism in menstrual hygiene!
"And I promised Mom - " (Kotex, May 1943)

Americans felt much more positive about World War II than about any war since - even menstrual pad ads were patriotic!

Can you imagine Tampax calling America to arms today? The same militarism pervaded advertising in general (for example, for cigarettes, which companies gave away to troops), and again in this Kotex "Are You in the Know?" ad a year later, from May 1944.

But war was in Kotex's blood - or rather, blood was in Kotex; Kotex, in bandage form, absorbed it from soldiers in the First World War and from women in the Second. (See how Kotex started.)

Notice also the faces of the girl and boy in the ad: they are really identical. Kotex, and many other companies, idealized an Anglo-Saxon but childish face in many ads. They are teenage babies. As an illustrator, I know that it easier to draw the same face than to come up with new ones (many single-panel cartoonists use the same face: maybe a big nose, dots for eyes, etc; and using varying faces might also detract from the point, unless faces form a part of that point). There are no black or brown ones and there are no big noses or ears. Depiction of an America of really different-looking people came later.

We see that sameness in at least one other Kotex war ad, "Are You in the Know?" (May 1944)

See blowups of the illustrations below the main ad.

Four pictures, long download!

 

 


Read the booklet "As One Girl To Another," advertised above.

 

Compare faces and raise the flag in another Kotex war ad, "Are You in the Know?" in May 1944 (U.S.A.)

© 1998 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any of the work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org