The Perils of Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page
"Faultless Feminine Syringe," No. 240, made by the Faultless Rubber Company, Ashland, Ohio, U.S.A., perhaps from the 1960s or 1970s.
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepage | sMUM 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.


The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health

Mon Docteur vaginal douche set (complete?), with (separate?) documents, American, 1928-29? for contraception, end of menstruation, vaginal odor, etc.
Box

Mon Docteur - French for "My Doctor" (a nice medical connection with French haughtiness and naughtiness, huh?) - douche apparatus allegedly cured many ills, beautified the user and even could prevent her from dying. This was an era when a "germ"-free vagina led to better health rather than to worse health as believed today. (Read Luci Rome's essay on why women should not douche. And for the heck of it, surprise yourself with what causes menstrual odor.)

Women could also buy an early menstrual cup associated with the same company. See it as well as more literature about the beauty-douching connection (!) here and here.

And read what Leona Chalmers, who developed an early menstrual cup, writes about douching in a roughly contemporary book, The Intimate Side of a Woman's Life.

 

The cover measures 7 1/2" x 3 7/8" x 2 3/8" (19.2 x 9.8 x 6 cm).

 

One end looks as above.The color of five sides of the box is shiny gray - reflection caused the color shift to yellow - with a fleur-de-lis pattern befitting the supposed French origin of the douche.
Harry Finley created the images.  Copyright 2006 Harry Finley

NEXT: douche syringe
Box - douche syringe - tablets - Leaflet: The "Mon Docteur" Way to Health[,] Vitality[,] and Beauty (covers, pages 1, 2/3) - Leaflet: This is It (covers, pages 2/3, 4/5, 6/7/8) - Leaflet: Every Woman Wants to be Lovely and Belovèd (pages 1/4, 2/3) - Booklet: Why Haven't We Women Been Told This Thing Before? (covers, pages 1/2-3/4, 5/6-7/8, 9/10-11/12, 13/14-15/16, 17/18-19/20, 21/22) - Booklet: The Mon Docteur Treatments (pages 12/1, 2/3, 4/5, 6/7, 8/9, 10/11) - order form