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THE MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S HEALTH
Is this the first Tampax menstrual tampon? (U.S.A., about 1931-33)
Instructions.
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Writing "menstrual flow" and "vaginal canal"
is blunt for the time and might betray the inventor's profession, medical
doctor (of osteopathy). But he soon retreats to delicacy with the word "parts."
Just as with fax tampon
the writer claims that women can leave the tampon in the vagina for many
hours more than is recommended today. I wonder if any women developed toxic
shock from this early Tampax.
It's funny that he thinks nature intended menses to be absorbed
in the vagina. It seems obvious after thousands of years that nature "intended"
it to leave the vagina. But that wouldn't sell tampons.
The first and last lines fit into the great tradition of
American advertising, especially this era before the government restricted
outrageous ad copy.
The instructions lack the usual drawings of a woman inserting
the tampon.
Telling the user to flush it and the tubes down the toilet
undoubtedly led to the problems described here
with disposable pads in the 1920s.
Look how the typeface for Tampax wildly differs from that
on the outside of the box. In his trademark application Haas requested only
the spelling to be registered, not the style. Later the typeface was standardized.
The photo, above, looks almost identical to the patent drawing
for the first Tampax, below. When this box appeared the patent had not yet
been approved. But the hand in the patent looks male to me (short finger
nails, male-like sleeve) whereas the hand above lacks a sleeve and might
have longer finger nails. The writing is black on white (now brownish) paper.
(See the page from which the drawing came.)
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