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THE MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION
AND WOMEN'S HEALTH
history old sponge menstrual
menstruation birth control contraception
contraceptive Anna Comstock
feminine hygiene
Sponges for
contraception - birth control -
and absorbing menstrual flow
Women have probably
used sponges to absorb menstrual
discharge
for thousands of years, but they
have also used them as
contraceptives and
for putting medication into the
vagina (as with tampons; see hieroglyphics
from about 1550 BCE). Sometimes
it's hard to say which sponge was
used for
what - but maybe women sometimes
used them for all three purposes.
During the era of
the Comstock Act in the U.S.A.,
1873 to
well into the 20th century, when
contraception was
illegal, American women used
sponges to hold liquids that
killed sperm as
well as to absorb menstrual blood,
but ads could not say
this. Thus
the assertion in the ad, below,
that the sponge could keep the
vagina "germ
free," similar to the wording of
douche ads (see a Lysol
ad, among others, for this
dual purpose).
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The ad is from the American
Medical Association Archives,
Chicago,
and reproduced in Devices &
Desires: A History
of Contraceptives in America,
by Andrea Tone (Hill and Wang,
2001
- buy
it). Undated, it looks to
me as if it's from the early
20th or late
19th century. Professor Tone
notes that the word "germ"
really
means "sperm."
See
examples of this box and
sponge, below.
But
first . . .
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Cleaning
sponges
Dr. Philip Tierno, Jr.,
a MUM board
member
and expert on the safety of
menstrual products, writes
(October 1999), in
part,
The odor emanating from the
used and washed sponges
represent the action of
surviving vaginal bacteria and
their degradation of menstrual
debris that survives the wash.
The only effective way to
sanitize those sponges is by boiling for
about 5 to 10 minutes.
This will kill ALL bacteria
there.
Interestingly, looking back in
history, women used to boil
their menstrual "rags"
to get them clean. This is an
analogous circumstance.
John Fleer, who lives in
Michigan (U.S.A.), searched for
patent medicine
bottles in old drugstores in the
central part of the U.S.A. for
many years,
and came upon this menstrual
sponge (the orange can,
below) about 1966 in an
area of Kansas located next to an
Army training
area during World War II. The
drugstore was deserted, although
bookies had
used it recently for their illegal
operations! He kindly donated it
to MUM
after reading an article about
this museum in the Chicago
Tribune.
Both the red cross and the word
"health" make the medical
connection to menstruation, a
hangover from the medicalization
of menstruation
in the last century, which
apparently occurred because of the
feeling of
shame Victorianism caused women to
feel about their bodies. Mothers
then
abandoned teaching their daughters
about their periods; doctors -
males
- took over by default, and the
rest is history.
But the word may also refer to
its possible use as a
birth-control device.
Dr. Barbara Czerwinski, of the
University of Texas, a MUM board
member, who has completed a
study for the U.S. Department of
Defense
of the hygienic requirements of
female members of the Armed
Forces, believes
the U.S. Army may have issued this
sponge to female troops (WAC)
destined
for the South Pacific.
The National Museum of American
History of the Smithsonian
Institution
has three similar examples of
sponges (at least it did in 1995).
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This is the sponge
(below) and case (bottom part at
left)
John Fleer sent to MUM, which was
perhaps available during World War
II.
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The contents of the
above can.
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You are looking at
another case, date unknown, from
an angle.
It is virtually the same size and
shape as the first sponge can,
although
the top is
slightly domed. The
can is
empty. See a similar
but not identical can with
sponge.
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Below:
Again, another sponge
and case are virtually identical
to the Fleer sponge, above.
A woman in an
American Pacific coast state
found two of
these in the effects of a
deceased aunt and generously
sent one to the museum
in July 2001. Figuring
backwards from her age, her aunt
probably bought
it between 1920 and 1930 -
unless SHE inherited it! The
typography reminds
me of the 1930s - 1940s.
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The case matches the Fleer sponge
in size.
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Side view
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The sponge nestled in its case.
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© 2001 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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