See more Kotex items: First ad (1921; scroll to bottom of page) - ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in a menstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
See other flushable pads: Society (American?, 1920s - 1930s?), Modess (American, 1972) and Sani-Flite (American, 1971)
See an early ad for New Freedom (1971) and an early leaflet (date unknown) promoting it
See more Kotex items: Ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls) - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
Ads for the Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A., 1970s) - a Japanese stick tampon from the 1970s.
Early commercial tampons - Rely tampon - Meds tampon (Modess)
DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links: homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | 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.

New Freedom menstrual pad (Kotex; box bears a copyright of 1970)

Personal Products Company, maker of Modess, introduced Stayfree beltless pads (see an ad featuring gymnast Cathy Rigby) right before (1970) Kimberly-Clark started selling New Freedom, the pad below.

Both pads virtually killed the sanitary napkin belt industry in the United States. Why would a woman want to wear something that allows the pad to twist and shift (well, I guess they still do)? Pads quickly got better, smaller and more absorbent and took flight with wings, which protected underpants.

Note the effort to prettify menstruation with the words feminine and femininity, the flower (a common device with menstrual products; add an "s" and you have an old synonym for menstruation) and the stylish clothes and stylish women (the ad for New Freedom has similar imagery).

The former Tambrands, maker of Tampax, which acquired the box in 1971, donated it, opened, to this museum in 1997, part of a huge gift.
Several large files, long download!

 

 

 
 Enlarged words on left side of box

 

 

 

Side panel of box 
The sticky side
The business side of the pad. The pad is about 1" (2.54 cm) thick. 

See an early ad for New Freedom (1971) and an early leaflet (date unknown) promoting it.

© 1999 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