Read a Pursettes booklet for girls from the late 1950s, a donation from the company that used to make Tampax.

See the actual Pursettes tampon, an ad offering this booklet, and ads from 'Teen magazine, October 1974 - Seventeen, February 1974 - Seventeen, September 1972 - Seventeen, August 1973 - 1975 (unknown month and magazine) - undated "regular" ad. See all such booklets on this site.

See another lubricated tampon, Dale.

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Below


The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health

Pursette's tampons, no applicator, lubricated
Ad, 1975, two color
Unknown magazine, U.S.A.

Early on, tampon makers advertised their use during sports and on the stage, ballet for example. The worried girl in the cartoon doesn't want to race "around the bases in a bulky napkin." Shifting pads were (and are) a big worry.

But one worry about tampons was whether they'd last for the hours a big pad would. As a matter of fact, some early companies like Kotex (Fibs tampon) promoted their 'pons for the end of the period when the flow might be less. This went to extremes in the 1970s and 80s, an era when some women died and otherwise became sick because of their tampons. (This happened occasionally later too.)

Pursettes (see the tampon and the carrier shown below), which lasted from the 1950s in America to the 1970s, often used cartoons and pictures of letters to the company in its ads, making them fun to look at. Cartoons, of course, told the story of tampons in other countries, too, like Denmark and Poland and have a long history in the U.S.A.

Oh, I just came across one you just have to see although it has nothing to do with tampons!

If you can tie this ad into Title IX, good for you. I tried but couldn't get a firm grasp. Title IX affected amateur sports in the U.S.A. as follows (from Wikipedia):

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance..."
—United States Code Section 20, [1]

Read a Pursettes booklet for girls from the late 1950s, a donation from the company that used to make Tampax.

See another lubricated tampon, Dale.

I thank the donor!

Below: The ad measures 7 7/8 x 10 13/16" (20.1 x 27.5 cm).

NEXT  |  Pursettes booklet for girls from the late 1950s
See another lubricated tampon, Dale.
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