See Kotex's first successful
tampon, Fibs; early Kotex tampon attempts;
and an early Tampax.
 
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A.C.C. Tamponettes menstrual tampons
(1939 & earlier? The Absorbent Cotton Company, U.S.A.)
This brand seems to be one among many made in America in the 1930s,
possibly before commercial tampons appeared elsewhere in the world (see
a list of some others).
Adding "-ettes" to "tampon" probably was intended
to make the potential buyer conscious of their size when compared with pads,
which at this time could be two feet long, tab to tab, and held in place
with a belt (adhesive pads didn't appear until the early 1970s). Note the
flowers on the second box, a "feminization" (as is the "-ettes")
common with menstrual products (see a cup compared with a tulip,
which is apt, actually).
I find it interesting that the second (later?) box is blue and green,
whereas the color on the text inside is red and black. And the typefaces
of the brand name differ in those two places, a no-no in the world of graphic
design (which forms part of my world).
Procter & Gamble kindly donated the boxes and contents as part
of a gift of scores of menstrual products.
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Right below: My guess is that this box
is older than the one underneath (dated 1939)
because of its improvised character: the
label glued on a plain box (although the ends, right & left, are missing
so I can't tell if something had been printed there. That
seems unlikely since nothing is printed elsewhere.).
It measures 7.5 x 3.25 x 0.83" (19 x 8.2 x 2.2 cm).
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The front of the 1939 box, above, looks just like the back.
At right is the flap.
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I found this cash register slip (4.625" x 3", about
11.7 x 7.7 cm) in the box. I had no idea that registers cranked out slips
as early as 1939! I dated the box of tampons using the slip (I hope it actually
belongs to this box, but the price is about right for tampons at that time),
since the box bears no date, patent information or trademark notice. But
someone did stamp Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. on both sides of the box (it's very
faint on the upper left side of the box, above).
The text is a faded purple, the shade I've seen from mimeograph
machines.
Big department stores like Macy's often sold menstrual products,
apparently in areas for women's clothing or notions.
Twenty-four cents for the box comes out to 2.4 cents a tampon,
about half what the probably contemporary LOX tampons
cost - but those had applicators.
I think I'll return the tampons. There's a Macy's a few miles
from here.
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