Read an earlier discussion of this: What did European and
American women use for menstruation in the 19th
century and before?
 
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Part 3: Some facts about European underwear, 1700 - 1900, and its relationship
to what women used for menstruation
(Part 1, Part 2)
The sun was setting on open-crotch underpants
when this pair appeared, probably in the 1890s. Manufacturers offered both
kinds as late as 1922 in America (see a section from the American Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog) and
even later in Germany. I suspect crotches closed because of shorter and
looser, more clinging dresses, allowing women to reach under and pull their
drawers down ("draw" means "pull") when on the toilet
and to better conceal their vulvas if their dresses hiked up, as from the
wind, or from a more active life than in former decades.
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German Beinkleid - "leg clothes"
- for a woman living at the end of the 19th century.
The arrow (which I added) points to the open crotch. (See schematic drawings of American crotchless underpants from about 1890.) The German word for men's pants, "Hose,"
was considered indecent when applied to women's underpants - thus Beinkleid.
From "Zur Geschichte der Unterwäsche 1700-1960."
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So, what did European women
use for menstruation?
© 2001 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or
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