Other Modess ads: another from
1928, 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French
Modess, and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark)
for teens.
 
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Menstrual pad ad, April 1929 (Johnson & Johnson, U.S.A.)
"Don't weaken, Mother"
Modess appeared in the 1920s, a challenger to Kotex
and many other companies fighting for the disposable pad market, which was
drawing women away from washable pads; menstrual
tampons hadn't appeared yet. A famous
efficiency expert helped Modess in the battle.
One weapon was humor, unusual at this time (see some later humor). The ad below was part of a series showing how "modern"
girls dragged their mothers into 1929.
They had to hurry up: the crushing days of the stock market crash were
just weeks away.
See another ad in this Dragging - er - Modernizing
Mother series.
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Below: See an enlargement
of the two women below the black-and-white ad.
I believe the daughter wears an exercise outfit - but with high heels? The
lighting makes the picture look as if it's on a stage or in a film, where
light sometimes came from the sun through an open roof in the early days
of movies - or from footlights in a theater. The staginess might have been
intended to be funny.
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I guess Daughter's putting Mother in the mood - or something. Mom's
about to need back surgery.
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