See how a woman wore a belt in a
Dutch ad. See a classy 1920s ad for a
belt and the first ad (1891) MUM has for a belt.
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Belts to hold menstrual pads,
part 1 (part
2)
Women wore commercial belts at
least from the latter part of the
nineteenth century (the earliest
ad the museum has is an American
one dated 1891).
Because self-adhesive pads became
available only in the early 1970s,
if women used pads, they had to
wear belts, suspenders,
"sanitary
panties," (underpants with
hooks or tabs or something else to
hold the pad in place) - or invent
some way of getting the pad to
stay in place.
Companies sold probably hundreds
of varieties of belts in the past
hundred years, but the industry
almost disappeared in the early
1970s with the advent of pads
with adhesive (Stayfree
and New
Freedom).
See my drawing of a mid-19th century belt and pad
in the collection of the
Valentine Richmond History
Center in Richmond, Virginia,
U.S.A.
Ad for New
Victoria Protector, late
19th, early 20th centuries?,
Chicago Specialty Co., U.S.A.
Ad for an Australian
Kotex belt, 1956.
Many belts, sanitary
aprons & underpants from the
Butler,
Smyth and
Savage catalogs, early
20th century.
See 3 ads
for American belts, 1949 and
1955, and a booklet
for girls by Beltx.
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Kay Cynova, a
staff member of the Stuhr Museum,
Grand Island, Nebraska, kindly
contributed these scans of the
next 3 advertisements from the
1897 (American) Sears and Roebuck
catalog.
Below,
Item 10936 "The Faultless
Serviette": This is a disposable
pad destined for burning
unlike the common washable pads
often made of diaper cloth, "birdseye
linen." SOMEwhere I have a notice in
a medical journal from the late 19th
century describing a portable
menstrual pad burner that
women could take on trips.
See ads for possibly the first
American disposable pad and
for the first
British disposable - maybe.
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Below: Not
a belt but a menstrual pad.
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The belts
below are physical objects in the
museum.
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The box at left
contains not only the belt (right)
but a folder. See everything here and
mostly bigger. My guess is that
this dates from before the
mid-1920s, which I explain here.
("Hoosier" means Indiana, a state
in America; it possibly comes from
an English dialect.) The donor of
the belt generously gave MUM many
other items, some below and some
to be added later.
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The typography
suggests that this stems from the
1930s or 1940s. (American)
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The
typography indicates a date from
the 1930s or 1940s. (Canadian)
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The seller, a
medical supply dealer, advertised
this as being from the 1940s. See
the belt "unfurled," below (click
for larger
image). (American)
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The box is crushed.
The picture of the woman probably
reflects the "Modess
. . . . because" ad
campaign, dating this belt between
the late 1940s and the early
1970s. A writer says she got one
in school in 1964. (American)
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Above: the
belt in the package above. Click
on it to enlarge.
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The box bears a
copyright of 1970.
(American)
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This American belts bears
a copyright of 1951. See the contents.
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The box bears a
copyright of 1970.
(American)
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The box bears a
copyright of 1973. (American)
Below:
Back of box
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© 2007 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
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