Pro-Fo Lactic (U.S.A.,
1930-40s?) Either a contraceptive or treatment for STDs (sexually transmitted
diseases), or both. Ointment with a bag to contain penis.
Dykon
leaflet for a contraceptive vaginal jelly (U.S.A., before 1936)
A short history of contraception
and religion - Egyptian
hieroglyphics from about 1550 B.C.E. describing a tampon used for contraception -
Australian douche ads
(about 1900)in the "Wife's
Guide and Friend":
The Australian government prosecuted this publication for being obscene
because it advertised contraceptives and contained birth control information
-
Fresca douche powder (early 20th century, U.S.A.);
the label contains language possibly hinting at contraceptive use -
Selections from the first American edition of Married
Love (first published 1918), Dr. Marie Stopes'
book that was long banned in America. Dr. Stopes founded the first birth-control
clinic in the British Empire, in 1921, and it's still running.
See also early contraceptive sponges disguised for other uses. Ad for Ergoapiol, treatment for painful or missing menstrual periods or
other irregularities of the menstrual cycle - or for abortion, 1904. Patent medicine at this museum.
Enovid (U.S.A.) birth-control
pill package & directions (1964) with booklet Planning
Your Family (also 1964) addressed to married women,
not single.
What did women do about menstruation
in the past?
|
answers to questions women ask most
often
Booklet promoting Norforms vaginal suppositories
(Norwich Pharmacal Co., U.S.A., 1968)
contraceptive, birth control, women's health, family planning, vaginal odor,
douching,
menstruation, discharge, The Pill
Although Norforms - probably from the company name Norwich
- presented itself as an odor killer for the
vagina many women probably used it to prevent conception, babies - it was
birth control. (The booklet suggests this.)
In Devices & Desires: A History of Contraception
in America (New York, 2001), Andrea
Tone intones (my emphasis throughout):
The Norwich Pharmacal Company, for instance, manufacturers of Norforms,
the most popular form of vaginal suppositories in
the country, deployed precisely such an argument to justify its
advertising policy. Norform suppositories were advertised exclusively as
"feminine hygiene," a term the company's
vice president Webster Stofer conceded had become synonymous
with contraception in many women's minds. All the same, Stofer insisted,
Norforms were not sold as birth control. Asked
why the company did not then change its marketing slogan to avoid misunderstanding,
Stofer expressed his regret that it was "too late" to advertise
suppositories as anything else. "The term has become too closely associated
with Norforms," he contended. "And anyway, we have our own definition
of it."
The booklet does not reveal the composition of the suppository.
|
Below: Back & front covers. Each page
measures 3 3/4 x 6 3/4" (9.5 x 17 cm).
|
|
NEXT | Covers -
inside front cover & page 1 - 2
3 - 4 5 - 6 7
- 8 9 - 10 11 - 12 & inside back cover
Pro-Fo Lactic - Doozee
douche for soda pop bottles - 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
ad, 1938 -
Midol booklet (selections), 1959 (U.S.A.) - Enovid (U.S.A.) birth-control pill package &
directions (1964)
with booklet Planning Your Family (also 1964)
addressed to married women, not single.
Dykon leaflet for a contraceptive
vaginal jelly (U.S.A., before 1936)
Images and text copyright 2009 Harry
Finley
|