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Little
Doozee, an after-the-party
contraceptive
douche nozzle for a soda bottle.
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
Read 1930s criticism of
douche
products Zonite
and Lysol.
See Lysol information
in old
newspapers
and Lysol ads from 1948
and 1934.
Visit the odor page.
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MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S
HEALTH
New Knowledge for
Women:
A Manual of Marriage Hygiene
American Health
Association, 1933, U.S.A.
Family planning (contraception), sex
education, nurse, abortion,
diseases & health of women, vaginal
douche techniques,
birth control, reproduction, menstruation
Wrapper for
manual
Not long ago, Americans had to search dark
alleys
for sex and (illegal) birth
control information, figuratively
speaking.
This booklet was one of those
alleys.
Appearing in 1933 in terrible
economic times, the manual
reflects another
of today's struggles, that of
providing sex information to the
public. Folks,
things were
even worse then.
The charming text sneaks around
birth control,
nudging you and winking, never
saying the forbidden words until
the very
last and then denying
it ever had such an idea!
Its style reminds me of the
contemporary Marjorie
May booklets Kotex made to
teach girls about menstruation,
although
those booklets were direct. You
might laugh but the subject was
serious
and the public was probably used
to learning through stories.
Read why this indirect approach
kept the writers out of jail:
"The Comstock Act, (ch. 258 17
Stat. 598 enacted March 3, 1873)
is a United States federal law
which made it illegal to send
any 'obscene, lewd, and/or
lascivious' materials through
the mail, including
contraceptive devices and
information. In
addition to banning
contraceptives, this act also
banned the distribution
of information on abortion for
educational purposes
following the ideal of 'Hear no
Evil, See no Evil.' Twenty-four
states passed similar
prohibitions on materials
distributed within the
states.[1] Collectively, these
state and federal restrictions
are known as the Comstock laws.
"The sale and distribution of
obscene materials has been
unlawful in most of the American
states since the early 1800s,
and has been prohibited by
federal law since 1873. The
federal anti-obscenity laws are
still in effect in 2008 and are
enforced,[2] though there are
extensive debates on what is
'obscene.' . . .
"In 1932, [Margaret]
Sanger arranged for a
shipment of diaphragms to be
mailed from Japan to a
sympathetic doctor in New York
City. When U.S. customs
confiscated the package as
illegal contraceptive devices,
Sanger helped file a lawsuit. In
1936,
a federal appeals court ruled in
United States v. One Package of
Japanese Pessaries that the
federal government could not
interfere with doctors
providing contraception to
their patients.
"In 1965, the U.S. Supreme
Court case Griswold v.
Connecticut struck down one of
the remaining Comstock laws, the
bans on contraception in
Connecticut and Massachusetts.
However, Griswold only applied
to marital relationships.
Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972)
extended its holding to unmarried
persons as well."
(From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_Law
[I added the red emphasis])
In Devices & Desires,
Andrea Tone describes the
organization
that created this manual:
"Like Dilex, the AHA
[American Health Association]
borrowed a concept key to the
burgeoning public health
movement: house-by-household
nursing visitations.The
company hired women to be
visiting nurses and equipped
them with certificates of
membership, badges of
identification, and sacks full
of AHA contraceptive
merchandise. No training or
experience was required to be
a saleswoman, although each
applicant had to pay
thirty-five cents for
'membership privileges' and
sign a pledge of allegiance to
the company and its mission.
This the AHA articulated as
bringing 'healthful living
through public education' to
the masses." (P. 330, note 49,
New York, 2001)
It's interesting that another
organization visited
homes to sell women douches
and menstrual cups.
Mon
Docteur douche
set
from the 1920s.
More: Little Doozee,
an after-the-party
contraceptive douche nozzle for
a soda bottle. SECRET
contraceptive tampon: Lehn
& Fink New Improved Tampon
- Birth
control
and religion | Birth
control drugs, old | Birth
control douche
& sponges
|
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.)
SarahAnne Hazelwood kindly
donated the booklet.
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Below:
Back and front wrappers (not
rappers),
each measuring 4 5/8 x 6 5/16"
(11.6 x 15.9 cm).
The paper is heavy and stiff.
The NRA graphic right below is not
the National Rifle Association but
the
National
Recovery Administration.
More about it: "The National
Recovery Administration (NRA) came
into
being through a significant
measure in 1933. The NRA attempted
to revive industry [affected by
the Great
Depression] by raising wages,
reducing work hours and
reining in unbridled competition.
The NRA was ruled unconstitutional
by
the Supreme Court in 1935;
however, the majority of its
collective bargaining stipulations
survived
in two subsequent bills." (From
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1569.html)
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NEXT: Wrapper - contents/front cover
- The Case
of Nancy Lee - The
Nurse Calls - The
American Health Association -
A Bride[']s Prayer
Answered - The
Usual Preparation for Marriage - Sex Organs and
Their Functions -
The Female
Organs/Their Physiology and Functions
- The Internal Organs
- Menstruation
- Process of
Reproduction -
The Vulva - The Vagina
- The Distending
Douche - The
Health Shield - Preventing Infection
- The Womb -
Amenorrhea - Dysmenorrhea
- Menorrhagia -
The Fallopian
Tubes - The
Ovaries - Leucorrhea
-
A Few Precautions
- Birth
Control disclaimer: This manual is not what
you
think it is!
SECRET contraceptive tampon: Lehn & Fink
New Improved Tampon - Little Doozee, an after-the-party
contraceptive douche nozzle for a soda
bottle. -
Birth control
and religion | Birth
control drugs, old | Birth control douche
& sponges Read
1930s criticism
of douche products
Lysol & Zonite and.
See Lysol information
in old
newspapers
and Lysol ads from 1948
and 1934. All
tampons on this
site.
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.)
© 2008 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\
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