Start the white ads.

Ad for an Elldy tampon (Japan) with applicator (October 1996)
Early Japanese tampon (1977): Shampon Young
A Japanese university student generously sent me the ad, along with others, some very old, which were part of a paper she wrote about the history of the Japanese menstrual products industry.
Ads for the Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A., 1970s) - a Japanese stick tampon from the 1970s.
Early commercial tampons - Rely tampon - Meds tampon (Modess)
And, of course, the first Tampax AND - special for you! - the American fax tampon, from the early 1930s.
See a Modess True or False? ad in The American Girl magazine, January 1947, and actress Carol Lynley in "How Shall I Tell My Daughter" booklet ad (1955) - Modess . . . . because ads (many dates).
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

Ad for Always Overnight Maxis with Wings
January 1998, Elle (U.S.A.)

Things women must worry about! At least most of them.

Bleeding all over the place from a usually unmentionable spot has haunted most women - and men! - probably for much of recorded history.

Yes, we have records of using nothing to absorb menstrual blood. Read this male German doctor's writing from about 1890:
Many women do nothing to protect their underwear, bed sheets and cover from the blood that runs from their sex organs. They place nothing in that region [to absorb menses] and so in addition to the outer sex organs, underwear, sheets and bed covers, the lower belly and thighs are stiffened with dried blood. Because this blood sometimes smells bad and resembles the post-childbirth discharge in this way, and because furthermore it sometimes mixes with other existent unhealthy discharges [catarrh] from the sex organs, and finally because of the widespread prejudice against frequent washing and changing of clothes during this time, some women, even those of the better classes, are often filthy to an almost unbelievable degree. One should oppose this abuse where one can because - apart from the harm it causes - it's extremely disgusting. [Read much more, including his solution.]

Our era is more concerned with this problem - in America even obsessed with erasing any hint of menstruation.

This and other ads featuring white illustrate this nicely.

Start the white ads series.

See an early American pad and belt.

Read more about what women in history used for menstruation. And in particular in Japan.

Below: the ad measures 8 x 11" (20.3 x 27.9 cm).
NEXT white ad (Stayfree, U.S.A., 1984) - Start the white ads.
See Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby in Stayfree ads, a bunch of American Stafree ads and speaking of belts, see something you'd never see in an American ad!
Ad for an Elldy (Japan) with applicator (October 1996) - Early Japanese tampon (1977): Shampon Young

© 2014 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 violations to hfinley@mum.org