Historical remedies for menstrual period pain and problems. See more remedies here. See modern home remedies here. Handwritten letter to a sick woman, Typed letter to a Canadian (1918), Ad from the Salt Lake Weekly Herald (1881) for Mrs. Pinkham, trade cards (flowers, girl with cat), post card of Stanford University, a bottle for Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, mending kit, booklet Stretching Your Dollar, bottles for her Blood Medicine and (just plain) Medicine, Home Talks, Private Text-Book Upon Ailments Peculiar to Women, Fruits and Candies booklet, and a modern bottle, box and instructions for her Tablets. A discussion of the letter testimonials, and their authenticity, of the Pinkham company (in a discussion of a Pursettes ad with a letter testimonial) See two letters to MUM about the ingredients of her Compound, and one about the lyrics of an English pop song, Lily the Pink, about her. Other amazing women: Nelli Bly, Dr. Marie Stopes, Dr. Grace Feder Thompson 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. The Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Co., maker of medicine for headaches, stomach illness, insomnia, depression, cancer, tumors, women's diseases, flatulence, menstruation, fertility, etc.: Newspaper ad, October 21, 1897, Cambridge [Ohio] Jeffersonian newspaper Mrs. Pinkham made medicine for sick women. Just as with many patent medicine makers (here), she solicited and replied to sick women's letters . So effective was this process that even after her death other "Mrs. Pinkhams" replied in her name (which caused credibility problems). But women often trusted her more than doctors. Even though Johns Hopkins at that very moment was revolutionizing American medicine the New World still lagged behind Europe. Her diagnosis was often grim. The cure? Her alcoholic Vegetable Compound or another of her concoctions. Two e-mailers have criticized my skepticism about her products but even as a vegan I doubt that they could cure cancer or regulate menstruation. In the ad below scrofula is tuberculosis of the lymph glands in the neck. Tuberculosis, often fatal, had a powerful hold on the public's imagination in this era before any effective treatment. Notice the terror the ad creates. Quick! Buy a bottle of my Vegetable Compound before it's too late! See some of her Home Talks and peek into her Private Text-Book Upon Ailments Peculiar to Women. I thank the generous genealogist who contributed this ad as well as dozens of others! NEXT: "Home Talks" pamphlet cover - See more Mrs. Pinkham, below (and see her first page) The Schlesinger Library, of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, part of Harvard University, has probably the largest collection of material about the Pinkham enterprise, the records of the Lydia E. Pinkham Medicine Company. Part of the donation of SarahAnne Hazelwood to this museum, much of it patent medicine and old medical equipment, was a very interesting biography and study of Mrs. Pinkham's business, Female Complaints: Lydia Pinkham and the Business of Women's Medicine, by Sarah Stage. See modern home remedies here. See bottles for her Blood Medicine and (just plain) Medicine, Home Talks, Private Text-Book Upon Ailments Peculiar to Women, Fruits and Candies booklet, and a modern bottle, box and instructions for her Tablets. A discussion of the letter testimonials, and their authenticity, of the Pinkham company (in a discussion of a Pursettes ad with a letter testimonial) See two letters to MUM about the ingredients of her Compound, and one about the lyrics of an English pop song, Lily the Pink, about her. Other amazing women: Nelli Bly, Dr. Marie Stopes, Dr. Grace Feder Thompson See also the patent medicine Cardui, Dr. Grace Feder Thompson's letter appealing for patients, Dr. Pierce's medicines, and Orange Blossom medicine. ©2006 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org