See the fax tampon and the almost identical tampon Nunap sold probably about the same time, both probably made of Cellucotton, the component of Kotex.
See other marketing devices: Ad-design contest for menstrual products in the United Kingdom; "Your Image is Your Fortune!," Modess sales-hints booklet for stores, 1967 (U.S.A., donated by Tambrands, 1997)
See early tampoms Wix and Dale and a bunch of other earlier ones.
SEE ALSO the directory of all tampons on this site.
See some Kotex items: First ad (1921) - ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in amenstrual 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
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepageMUM 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.

B-ettes menstrual tampon (U.S.A., 1935?)
Box and newspaper ad (1935, at bottom of page)

B-ettes joined the flock of American 1930s tampons without insertion devices; the museum has only two applicator tampons from the first decade of commercial menstrual tampons, Tampax (1936) and LOX (1940?), the applicator, I think, helping women accept the idea of tampons.

You won't find the the word "tampon" on the box or in the instructions, maybe because many women still weren't familiar with the word, or because the company wanted to substitute its name for the wad of cotton that would become so important in many women's lives.

So how do you pronounce "B-ettes"? "Bee-ets"? "Bets"? "Betties"? Dr. Lillian Gilbreth would have laughed at this ambiguity and predicted the brand's early death (in her 1927 report to Johnson & Johnson). The company spent much money on advertising in 1938-39, as pitched in its proposal to dealers (here), but I suspect Dr. Gilbreth was right.

NEXT: the open display box - tampon - instructions - proposal to dealers

Procter & Gamble kindly donated the box and contents as part of a gift of scores of menstrual products.

 

As with some other tampons of the time, nothing on the box tells a women how many tampons are inside (12), just "A month's supply" on this display case (see it open) - nothing at all on the individual boxes.
The price comes out to be a tad over 2¢ apiece, about what other contemporary tampons cost (LOX, with an applicator, cost more than twice as much).
"No pads, no belts, no pins" mimics what the text on many other contemporary tampon boxes shouted, and justifiably. Tampons encouraged women to get out into the world and on an almost equal footing with men.
This display box measures 5.375" x 3.375" x 1.75" (13.3 x 11 x 4.4 cm).

 

"The older ways" meant mainly pads and belts, although cups and sponges existed at this time, but I suspect women hardly used them. 


 

The American Medical Association chided Tampax for using this implied endorsement on its packaging (Tampax took the statement off), but this usage seems to have been common. Good Housekeeping, of course, was an American magazine that lent its guarantee to certain products.

 
The ad appeared in the Indiana Evening Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, on Friday, December 6, 1935, at the bottom of page 13 between ads for groceries. The instructions and proposal to dealers show addresses in Pennsylvania and New York, not Florida. I hope they weren't one step ahead of the law! I very much thank a genealogy researcher for sending this scan and several other others of tampons and other information from mid-twentieth century newspapers!

NEXT: the open display box - tampon - instructions - proposal to dealers

© 2001 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