See Kurb, a Midol competitor from
Kotex.
Midol booklet (selections), 1959
 
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Midol menstrual pain reliever newspaper ads, U.S.A.,
1911-1961
Midol started out to relieve headaches, then hiccups, then - well, I'll
let the retired teacher who found these ads speak:
Midol started out as a headache tablet, then it was advertised as a
cure for hiccups, then finally, it was advertised for menstrual pain and
competed with Kotex Kurbs tablets. I can't help but wonder if the ingredients
changed along the way. . . . The first price in ads was 10 tablets for
25c then 10 tablets for 50c then the price went down to 40c for 12 tablets
in 1940 and stayed the same price and box until 1960. The new box started
in 1961 (see ads) and continued at least through the 60's but I don't know
when it changed again. I remember that box myself: it had a blue paper
liner, plus I remember the series of ads I attach that rotated different
pictures and names through the basic ads. Other names that were used besides
all these I attached were Donna, Anne, Bonnie, Rachel and Betty; (and probably
more) sometimes they were bright, gay, radiant, up, glad or sharp and they
mixed up these names, images and words. These ran from the early 50's through
the 60's at least although they dropped gay as it gained a new meaning.
[For "gay" see this page.]
I thank the genealogist and retired teacher who generously sent these
scans!
BELOW: Hey, what's
a MAN doing in a Midol ad?! (And what's a man
doing in a panty pad ad
with no women?!) Below: from the Syracuse [New York] Herald, Dec.
17, 1911. The ad revolves around the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. U.S.
History.com has
this to say about the legislation (I added the color):
Provisions of the measure included the following:
· Creation of the Food and Drug Administration, which was entrusted
with the responsibility of testing all foods and drugs destined for human
consumption
· The requirement for prescriptions from licensed physicians
before a patient could purchase certain drugs
· The requirement of label warnings on
habit-forming drugs.
Passage of the measure in Congress was not assured. The lobbying association
representing the medicine makers was vocal and well-funded, as were representatives
of the "beef trust" and other food producers. Some members of
Congress, especially a number of Southern senators, opposed the bill as
constitutionally unsound.
The active involvement of Theodore Roosevelt, who was repulsed by slaughterhouse
practices described in Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, successfully
overcame the lawmakers' reluctance.
The first casualty of this legislation was the
patent medicine industry; few of the nostrums gained certification from
the FDA. The law was strengthened in 1911 when additional provisions
were added to combat fraudulent labeling.
Interesting, isn't it, that we have similar concerns today, including
the concern about fine type? But note: the ad doesn't say what's in Midol!
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Other Midol ads (magazine): 1938, 1939, 1948, 1960
- Midol booklet (selections), 1959
© 2006 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
See also Australian
douche ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca douche powder (U.S.A.)
(date ?) - Kotique douche liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.)
- Liasan (1) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany)
- Liasan (2) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany)
- Lysol douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel
douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Midol menstrual
pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol booklet (selections),
1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.)
- Myzone menstrual pain pills ad, 1952 (Australia)
- Pristeen genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) -
Spalt pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Vionell genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany)
- Zonite douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
The Perils of Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci
Capo Rome) - the odor page
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