Read the fascinating Gilbreth report and see another example of Dutch honesty - and American squeamishness.
Pad directory
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).
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? | 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.

Libresse sanitary napkin ad and leaflet (1999, the Netherlands)

This recent ad for Libresse in the Netherlands shows two interesting features: women's concern about leaking menstrual fluid showing up on their clothing, and red as a design element and the true color of menstrual discharge, or close to it.

The Dutch and several other European countries deal more honestly with menstruation and, I suspect, with many other facts of life as well. European women have told me that being more open about menstruation both helps them accept it and is a reflection of this acceptance. And as far as men are concerned, they are far less interested in periods than some women seem to think. The culture of hiding it creates problems in itself.

The kind Dutchman who has sent so many items to MUM sent these scans.

 

The same woman appears in the leaflet below. The famous blue companies substitute for red in menstruation ads stems from at least the 1920s; Kimberly-Clark, which makes Kotex, called it "hospital blue" in its company history, and Dr. Lillian Gilbreth discussed it in her 1927 report to Johnson & Johnson, maker of Modess menstrual pads.
Not only does the company use the real color on the pads, it surrounds them with it in the ad and colors its packaging with it. No ducking the issue.
The largest words read, Still worried about spots?

 

 Now that's red!

 
 At left, the words at top mean "Do you see a spot?"
Read the fascinating Gilbreth report and see another example of Dutch honesty - and American squeamishness.

Copyright 2006 Harry Finley