For more daintiness, see Nupak ads from 1926 and 1927 (made by Johnson &
Johnson, one of Kotex's main competitors).
See more Kotex items: First ad (1921) -
ad, 1928 (Sears and
Roebuck catalog) - Lee
Miller ads (first real person in a
menstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth
Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928,
Australian edition; there are many links here to
Kotex items) - Preparing
for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls;
Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish
showing disposal
method - box
from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?"
ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See
more ads on the Ads for
Teenagers main page
See a prototype of
the first Kotex ad.
See more Kotex items: Ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog)
- Marjorie May's Twelfth
Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928,
Australian edition; there are many links here to
Kotex items) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing
disposal method -
box from about 1969 -
Preparing
for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls)
- "Are you in the know?"
ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See
more ads on the Ads for
Teenagers main page
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Ad for Kotex menstrual pads (U.S.A.,
1932)
Kotex shows and describes its
manufacturing process to assure
readers of the pad's quality - and
creates an oxymoron by using the the
word "dainty"
in contrast to the machinery shown,
hardly dainty. Kotex thought the ad's
readers wanted to be feminine, and it
took what could be interpreted as a
masculine process to make them that
way. And women are in control of that
process, by operating the machinery
and overseeing the quality.
Wow, what an analysis, huh?
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You can't see the word
"immaculacy" (below,
in
the ad text) very often, but
here it is again, in an ad for Vemo
menstrual pad deodorant powder.
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". . . the mysterious,
the nameless, the unknown . . .
."
Kotex's frustrated novelists soar in
this ad! Interestingly enough, the
question of purity is relevant today,
what with the dioxin
question, and others, in menstrual
products.
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The hospital
association in the text at the right
impresses readers, playing on readers'
beliefs that hospitals are cleaner
than other places. Hah! If you're sick
it's a dangerous place to be because
of the antibiotic-bacteria lurking
everywhere. And that's just today. In
the past women have dug in their heels
because they might never see the light
of day after having had a baby there.
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For more daintiness, see Nupak ads from
1926 and 1927 (made by Johnson
& Johnson, one of Kotex's main
competitors). See
more Kotex items: Marjorie May's
Twelfth Birthday (booklet for
girls, 1928, Australian edition; there
are many links here to Kotex items) -
Preparing for
Womanhood (1920s, booklet for
girls; Australian edition) - 1920s
booklet in Spanish showing disposal
method
© 2000
Harry Finley. It is illegal to
reproduce or distribute 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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