Tampax ad, 1989, "Are they hard to put in?" - Pad as diaper in Italian magazine - Tampax Bulletins (U.S.A.), probably from the 1950s, answering 19 frequently asked questions - ad "Are you sure I'll still be a virgin?" Feb. 1990 - actress Susan Dey ad, 1970 - "Tampons as Menstrual Guards" (U.S.A., 1945) report by Dr. Robert Dickinson
See a real American douche set from the 1920s.
See also 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 pill, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Sterizol douche liquid ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Vionell genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
Vaginal hygiene in The Intimate Side of a Woman's Life, by Leona W. Chalmers (1937, Pioneer Publications, Inc., Radio City, New York), with photo of American bulb syringe from the 1960s or 1970s.
***The Perils of Vaginal Douching*** (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
Homepage
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.


THE MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S HEALTH

Tampax ad, France
November 1988
20 Ans magazine
"Avec Tampax, je vis comme j'ai envie"

With a plastic applicator

Do you think plastic tampon applicators populate the Great Pacific garbage patch, an enormous collection of sludge and debris in the North Pacific Ocean?

Do Catholics celebrate Easter?

Not only in the North Pacific but everywhere we find plastic remnants of our recent civilization trashing up our world. Plastic tampon applicators wash up on beaches on America's coasts and probably coasts everywhere.

At least by 1975 Playtex boasted (to dealers) that it was the first tampon using a plastic applicator (and see Soft Shape from Procter & Gamble, 1968). At first it sounded like a good idea - the same announcement to dealers claimed it was the first with a deodorant, the first on national television, and the first with the rounded tip "gentle glide" applicator. The Tampax in this ad also has a rounded tip.

Rounded tips are a good idea. Think of what women had to go through with these early tampons: the gauze covered (NO applicator) fax, and flat-ended Fibs, both from Kimberly Clark, maker of Kotex.

Look how the woman places her foot on the, um - rack? Chairs? It imitates drawings we sometimes find in tampon instructions about how to insert a company's 'pon. I hope she waited till she got home.

At least one American tampon has shouted its protection of women's "daintiness," protecting clothing and herself as in this ad - as a matter of fact, Daints did decades ago! "For the woman of charm!"

Tampax might have been the first commercial tampon in France. See a Tampax ad from the Netherlands, 1938 and a very early American ad, 1936, U.S.A.

See a narrow-column French Tampax ad from the 1960s-70s.

Tampax gave more technical advice in its 1950s Bulletins and Dr. Dickinson discussed the advantages of tampons over pads in his 1945 report.

Below: The ad measures 8 1/4 x 11" (21 x 27.9 cm)
Below: My translation

"With Tampax I live as I wish."








Do everything with passion, clothes, studies, projects: that's us!
Live to the limit as you desire every day: that's us with Tampax. Because Tampax with its plastic applicator was designed for girls like us.
With the plastic applicator it's even easier!
The plastic applicator is above all a question of comfort. It's smooth with a rounded end.
It allows the tampon to gently slide in place. Quickly it expands in length and width to adjust to our body. Tampax is incomparable in comfort. Tampax assures discretion and security through a choice of absorptions  responding to your needs. Comfort, security, discretion: yes, certainly, to live the way you want it's Tampax and no other!
[below right]
Ask for the Mini-Guide Tampax to learn more. The cycle, first periods, hygiene: everything's in this Mini Guide. What's more, Tampax will send you free a box of 4 regular tampons. Fill out the form and return it to ....
American ad, 1989, "Are they hard to put in?" - Tampax Bulletins (U.S.A.), probably from the 1950s, answering 19 frequently asked questions - ad "Are you sure I'll still be a virgin?" Feb. 1990 - actress Susan Dey ad, 1970 - "Tampons as Menstrual Guards" (U.S.A., 1945) report by Dr. Robert Dickinson - pad as diaper in Italian magazine

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