Little
Doozee, an after-the-party
contraceptive
douche nozzle for a soda bottle.
Australian
douche ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca
douche powder (U.S.A.) (date ?) - Kotique douche
liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.) - Liasan (1) genital
wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Liasan (2) genital
wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Lysol douche liquid
ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol
douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel douche liquid
ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Midol
menstrual pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol booklet
(selections), 1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream
ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Myzone
menstrual pain pills ad, 1952 (Australia) -
Pristeen genital
spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets,
1936 (Germany) - Vionell
genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs
(Germany) - Zonite
douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
The Perils of
Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci Capo
Rome) - the odor
page
Read 1930s criticism of
douche products Zonite
and Lysol. See Lysol information in old newspapers and Lysol ads from 1948 and 1934.
Visit the odor page.
|
MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND
WOMEN'S HEALTH
New
Knowledge for Women:
A
Manual of Marriage Hygiene
By
Alice Chapman Taft
American Health Association, 1933,
U.S.A.
Whole pamphlet
Below:
Wrapper for manual
Not long ago, Americans had to search dark
alleys for sex and
(illegal) birth control
information, figuratively
speaking. Hey, even today. This
booklet was one of those alleys.
Appearing in 1933 in terrible
economic times, the manual
reflects another of today's
struggles, that of providing sex
information to the public. Folks,
things were
even worse then.
The charming text sneaks around
birth control, nudging
you and winking, never saying the
forbidden words until the very
last and then denying it ever
had such an idea!
Its style reminds me of the
contemporary Marjorie May
booklets Kotex made to teach
girls about menstruation, although
those booklets were direct. You
might laugh but the subject was
serious and the public was
probably used to learning through
stories.
Read why this indirect approach
kept the writers out of jail:
"The Comstock Act, (ch. 258 17
Stat. 598 enacted March 3, 1873)
is a United States federal law
which made it illegal to send
any 'obscene, lewd, and/or
lascivious' materials through
the mail, including
contraceptive devices and
information. In
addition to banning
contraceptives, this act also
banned the distribution
of information on abortion for
educational purposes
following the ideal of 'Hear no
Evil, See no Evil.' Twenty-four
states passed similar
prohibitions on materials
distributed within the
states.[1] Collectively, these
state and federal restrictions
are known as the Comstock laws.
"The sale and distribution of
obscene materials has been
unlawful in most of the American
states since the early 1800s,
and has been prohibited by
federal law since 1873. The
federal anti-obscenity laws are
still in effect in 2008 and are
enforced,[2] though there are
extensive debates on what is
'obscene.' . . .
"In 1932, [Margaret]
Sanger arranged for a
shipment of diaphragms to be
mailed from Japan to a
sympathetic doctor in New York
City. When U.S. customs
confiscated the package as
illegal contraceptive devices,
Sanger helped file a lawsuit. In
1936,
a federal appeals court ruled in
United States v. One Package of
Japanese Pessaries that the
federal government could not
interfere with doctors
providing contraception to
their patients.
"In 1965, the U.S. Supreme
Court case Griswold v.
Connecticut struck down one of
the remaining Comstock laws, the
bans on contraception in
Connecticut and Massachusetts.
However, Griswold only applied
to marital relationships.
Eisenstadt v. Baird (1972)
extended its holding to unmarried
persons as well."
(From
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comstock_Law
[I added the red emphasis])
In Devices & Desires,
Andrea Tone describes the
organization that created this
manual:
"Like Dilex, the AHA
[American Health Association]
borrowed a concept key to the
burgeoning public health
movement: house-by-household
nursing visitations.The
company hired women to be
visiting nurses and equipped
them with certificates of
membership, badges of
identification, and sacks full
of AHA contraceptive
merchandise. No training or
experience was required to be
a saleswoman, although each
applicant had to pay
thirty-five cents for
'membership privileges' and
sign a pledge of allegiance to
the company and its mission.
This the AHA articulated as
bringing 'healthful living
through public education' to
the masses." (P. 330, note 49,
New York, 2001)
It's interesting that another
organization visited
homes to sell women douches
and menstrual cups.
Mon
Docteur douche set from the
1920s.
More:
Little
Doozee, an after-the-party
contraceptive douche nozzle
for a soda bottle. SECRET
contraceptive tampon: Lehn &
Fink New Improved Tampon -
Birth
control and religion | Birth
control drugs, old | Birth
control douche
& sponges
|
Australian
douche ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca
douche powder (U.S.A.) (date ?)
- Kotique
douche liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.)
- Liasan
(1) genital wash ad, 1980s
(Germany) - Liasan (2)
genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany)
- Lysol
douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
- Lysol
douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.)
- Marvel
douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
SarahAnne Hazelwood
kindly donated the booklet.
|
Below:
Back and front wrappers (not
rappers), each measuring 4 5/8 x 6
5/16" (11.6 x 15.9 cm).
The paper is heavy and stiff.
The NRA graphic right
below is not the National
Rifle Association but the National
Recovery Administration.
More
about it: "The National
Recovery Administration (NRA) came
into being through a significant
measure in 1933. The NRA attempted
to revive industry [affected by
the Great Depression] by raising
wages, reducing work hours and
reining in unbridled competition.
The NRA was ruled unconstitutional
by the Supreme Court in 1935;
however, the majority of its
collective bargaining stipulations
survived in two subsequent bills."
(From
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1569.html)
|
 |
NEXT: Wrapper - contents/front cover
- The Case of Nancy
Lee - The Nurse
Calls - The
American Health Association -
A Bride[']s Prayer
Answered - The
Usual Preparation for Marriage - Sex Organs and Their
Functions -
The Female
Organs/Their Physiology and Functions
- The Internal Organs
- Menstruation -
Process of
Reproduction -
The Vulva - The Vagina - The Distending Douche
- The Health Shield
- Preventing
Infection - The
Womb -
Amenorrhea - Dysmenorrhea - Menorrhagia - The Fallopian Tubes
- The Ovaries -
Leucorrhea -
A Few Precautions
- Birth Control
disclaimer: This
manual is not what you think it is!
SECRET contraceptive tampon: Lehn & Fink New
Improved Tampon - Little Doozee, an after-the-party
contraceptive douche nozzle for a soda
bottle. -
Birth control
and religion | Birth
control drugs, old | Birth control douche & sponges Read
1930s criticism
of douche products
Lysol & Zonite and. See Lysol information in old newspapers and Lysol ads from 1948 and 1934. All tampons on this
site.
Australian douche
ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca
douche powder (U.S.A.) (date ?) - Kotique douche
liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.) -
Liasan (1) genital
wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Liasan (2) genital
wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Lysol douche liquid
ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) -
Lysol douche
liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel douche liquid
ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
© 2008 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\
|