More about
                            Pursettes:
                          See the Pursettes booket for teenagers (late
                              1950s?).
                          
                          
                          
                          
                          
                          
                          
                          
                              
                              
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                          Plastic box filled with 60 
                            Pursettes tampons (no applicator,
                            1960s-70s?) 
                            (Campana Corp., Batavia, Illinois, U.S.A.)
                          history, tampon, women, menstruation,
                            lubrication
                          
                            
                              
                                
                                  
                                    Pursettes extolled its virtues
                                      in many very
                                        readable ads often aimed at
                                      young women.
                                    But its virtues were old ones: a
                                      no-applicator
                                        version (unlike Tampax,
                                      the queen of applicators) that
                                      recalled the earliest
                                        commercial tampons; and
                                      small size since the long tubes
                                      were missing.
                                    But its almost
                                        unique feature was a lubricated
                                        tip that made it easier
                                      to insert - but not for
                                        all. You can see the
                                      lubrication in a photo -
                                      and it's still slippery when wet!
                                      I've seen only one other tampon
                                      with lubrication, an earlier
                                      American one called Dale.
                                    Pursettes started in the 1950s
                                      but failed in the 1970s, actually
                                      a long run compared to some early
                                      American tampons (see all tampons
                                      on this site).
                                    
                                    I thank
                                          Tambrands, the former company
                                          that made Tampax, for this
                                          donation from its archives.
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                                    Below:
                                      The plastic box measures 5 1/4 x 3
                                      1/4 x 2 3/4" (13.3 x 8.3 x 7.1
                                      cm). 
                                      It's clear on top but black on the
                                      sides and bottom. The blue &
                                      white paper 
                                      you see is a loose piece of paper.
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                                    Below:
                                      For connoisseurs of latches, the latch (on
                                      the invisible side at the TOP of
                                      the image above).
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                                    Below:
                                      Odd:
                                      the two pairs of different
                                      plastic hinges. The patent no. for
                                      these hinges is 
                                      2570341 (1951), which appears in
                                      almost microscopic letters on the
                                      plastic cover.
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                                    Below:
                                      The same hinges
                                      from the side
                                        of the box. The four
                                      rectangular shapes extending
                                      downward are slightly raised
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                          © 2011 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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