See an ancient Peruvian bowl with the image of a
menstruating vagina inside.
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.
See how women wore
a belt (and in a Swedish ad). See a modern belt for
a washable pad
and a page from the 1946-47 Sears
catalog showing a great variety.
More ads for
napkin belts: Sears,
1928 - modern
belts - modern washable - Modess, 1960s
Actual belts in the museum
And, of course, the first Tampax AND -
special for you! - the American fax
tampon, from the early 1930s, which also
came in bags.
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).
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Below:
The text reads (my translation):
"Tampons? I find Camelia more
natural!"
Most girls try tampons.
But many don't feel good
using them and use pads.
Because girls feel tampons are
foreign bodies and they don't
feel secure/safe.
That's why they often
pick Camelia. Because Camelia
is used outside the body.
Everything can happen
naturally. They tightly fit
the body and have a natural
absorbent interior.
And of course Camelia
is just as safe as you'd wish.
Every day!
[Bottom text under the
cursive "Camelia"] Safe, of
course. Camelia, of course.
[Tiny text running up the
bottom left edge] Also
available in Austria and
Switzerland
The repetition of safe and secure and natural -
Germans love saying "natürlich!," "of
course" in some contexts - might
awaken in customers the memory of
UNnatural and dangerous materials in
tampons like those that caused serious
health problems earlier. The
same might be true of foreign bodies
sitting in the vagina, which
women/girls sometimes forgot to take
out. Pads are a lot harder to
forget.
And some women feared - they still do!
- that tampons would plug up the
vagina, stopping the flow, or even
disappear somewhere up that mysterious
tube.
Tampax and other companies fought
these comparisons for years,
which still hinder widespread use of
tampons.
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See this ad's variation,
from 1990.
See another Camelia
ad, from 1926
© 2013 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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