Compare the almost contemporary (2001) Tampax
tampon puberty booklet (Tampax Satin Learner's
Kit) in English, Spanish and French.
See a Kotex ad advertising a Marjorie May
booklet.
See many more similar booklets.
See ads for menarche-education booklets:
Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1932),
Tampax tampons (1970, with Susan Dey), Personal
Products (1955, with Carol Lynley), and German o.b.
tampons (lower ad, 1981)
And read Lynn Peril's series about these
and similar booklets!
Read the full text of the 1935 Canadian edition
of Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday, probably identical to the American edition.
More ads for teens (see also introductory
page for teenage advertising): Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and Quest napkin powder, 1948, U.S.A.),
Are you in the know? (Kotex
napkins and belts, 1949, U.S.A.)Are you in
the know? (Kotex napkins, 1953, U.S.A.),
Are you in the know? (Kotex
napkins and belts, 1964, U.S.A.), Freedom
(1990, Germany), Kotex (1992, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Saba (1975, Denmark)
See early tampons and a list of tampon on this site - at least the ones I've cataloged.
 
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Volwassen worden ("Growing up," excerpts),
menstruation and puberty booklet for teenage girls, the Netherlands (2004,
o.b. tampons)
Cover, Introduction (p. 1)
The booklets American menstrual-products companies published for girls
started in the 1920s with the restrained Marjorie
May series, using theatrical and upper-middle-class language and behavior,
and evolved quickly into the colloquial and relaxed Growing
Up and Liking It, (1944). But apart from minor increases in boldness
America has held on to its prudery.
Not so the Europeans! In at least two booklets o.b. tampons, which the
American company Johnson & Johnson bought in the 1970s, has ventured
where no other American company has dared tread. Of course these booklets
are not in English but in German and Dutch, sparing the eyes and ears of
the Anglo-Saxon cultures.
One of these booklets starts below. By using drawings instead of photos,
which the other booklet used, the impact of the
explicitness is lessened. Nevertheless I don't believe you'd ever see anything
similar in an American publication for kids.
All companies' booklets pitch their products, as does this one on page 43 and elsewhere.
Note the influence of Japanese manga drawings in the eyes of the characters.
The opening sentence, below, calls puberty the most fascinating phase
of life. I'd call it the roller coaster phase, and if you find roller coasters
fascinating, great.
The booklet measures 4.25 x 5.75" (11 x 14.7 cm) and has 64 pages
plus four covers.
I thank the Dutch contributor, who has donated many valuable items to
the museum!
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© 2006 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
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