See an actual set
of the company's early Mon Docteur douche
apparatus from the 1920s.
See the company's Daintette
menstrual cup
See instructions
for the cup; information
about the Dainty Maid douche apparatus; and
covers of Mon Docteur and Daintette booklets.
Why shouldn't you douche?
The Perils of
Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci Capo Rome)
- the odor page
DIRECTORY of all
topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)
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Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health
Personal want
ads in American newspapers to sell
Dainty Maid douche, enema and ear
irrigation ("earigator") apparatus
that could be sold in
Tupperware-like - Charm - parties
1932 - 1961
In twentieth-century America, and
probably in Europe, douching the
vagina at home - flushing it out,
usually with a special apparatus - was
very popular, as least to judge from
the advertising (see some ads in the
links column at left). But just as
with the sanitary napkin belt and
thick pads - the industries making
them almost disappeared (see a Sears catalog
page from the 1940s advertising
the gear women used, and the early
beltless pads New
Freedom and Stayfree) -
douching has declined, fortunately.
Flushing out the vagina rids it not
only of odor but of bacteria necessary
to keep the tube acidic, the acid
reducing the number of harmful
microorganisms that can survive there.
Douching is normally bad (read The Perils of
Vaginal Douching).
The Dainty Maid Company, starting
probably in the 1920s in Meriden,
Connecticut, made douche apparatus and
a menstrual cup that company
representatives could sell at
"parties" of neighborhood ladies,
relatives and friends. My mind reels
at the thought. According to the
testimonials here,
sales people could earn enough to send
their kids to college and for cars. I
suspect this form of selling things
was more common than we might think.
In 1998, an unidentified person in
Middlefield, Connecticut, the
company's last home, faxed me what
look like package inserts or
promotional material, here.
See an actual set of the
company's early Mon Docteur douche
apparatus from the 1920s and the
company's Daintette
menstrual cup.
Read testimonials for an old
American patent medicine, Cardui.
I again thank the industrious and
kind retired teacher who found these
ads!
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Below:
From Reno [Nevada] Evening Gazette,
January 30, 1932.
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Below:
From the Vidette Messenger,
Valparaiso, Indiana, March 4, 1946.
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Below:
From the Syracuse [New York] Herlad
Journal and The Joplin [Missouri]
Globe, January 22, 1950.
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Below:
From the Nevada State Journal, Reno,
February 12, 1950
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Below:
From Valley News, Van Nuys,
California, July 2, 1961.
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Dainty Maid testimonials 1 2 3 and description of
products.
See an actual set
of the company's early Mon Docteur douche
apparatus from the 1920s and
the company's Daintette
menstrual cup.
© 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
Harry Finley is the
founder and director, and he created, writes and
maintains this site.
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