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, 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)
More ads for teens: 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). Freedom (1990, Germany), Kotex (1992, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.), Saba (1975, Denmark)
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.

"Are you in the know?" Kotex menstrual napkin ad in wartime America (May 1945)

Kotex ran a series of ads (see links) for American teenagers that are priceless for the language and customs observed as well as the segue into menstruation.

Note the Kotex blue, which was famous. Many menstrual-products companies used blue on their packaging, including arch-rival Modess. Read a critical discussion of this in a 1927 report to Johnson & Johnson, which was trying to find out what women wanted in menstrual products.

All the faces, boys and girls, are almost alike, basically baby faces and Caucasian, and no one is a pound overweight - and no one wears jeans. Adults dressed up to go shopping, and children followed suit. Look at the hat in the bottom picture! (Enlargements lie under the small picture of the entire ad.) Half the situations take place in an "old-fashioned" drugstore, at least the lower picture could be in one (I know from experience). The male in the lowest picture wears an Army uniform.

Read more American wartime "Are you in the know?" ads: May 1944 and "and I promised Mom -," May 1943, and read something about "Are you in the know?" ads in general. And one from Canada, 1944.

 

Enlargements are below.

   
 

 

Compare faces and raise the flag in another Kotex war ad, "Are You in the Know?" in May 1944 (U.S.A.)

© 1998 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