See other early commercial tampons at MUM - see some booklets for girls Personal Products made (Growing Up and Liking It, etc.) - an ad for this tampon
Famous women in menstrual hygiene advertising:
Carol Lynley - Lee Miller - Mary Lou Retton - Cathy Rigby - Cheryl Tiegs - Brenda Vaccaro
See also advertising for teenagers.
Menstrual pad suspenders!
See how a woman wore a belt in a Dutch ad. See a classy 1920s ad for a belt and the first ad (1891) MUM has for a belt.
See how women wore a belt (and in a Swedish ad). See a modern belt for a washable pad and a page from the 1946-47 Sears catalog showing a great variety.
More ads for napkin belts: Sears, 1928 - modern belts - modern washable - Modess, 1960s
Actual belts in the museum
More ads for napkin belts: Sears, 1928 - modern belts - modern washable - Modess, 1960s
Actual belts in the museum
See the Kotex stick tampon.
See also a Saba Ad, Pursettes ad, Kotex "Are you in the know?" ads (1949)(1953)(1964), Ads for Teens, and some older Kotex ads
And, of course, the first Tampax AND - special for you! - the American fax tampon, from the early 1930s, which also came in bags.
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).
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.

 

American ad for Carefree menstrual tampons
August 1967, McCall's magazine, U.S.A.

Headline above ad:
"Tamponphobia:
Why don't Swedish women have it?"

I don't know how many American women bought (or buy) the Swedish implied argument in the second line in the ad, Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia being the pit of sin for many Americans (you can also throw northwestern Europe into that pit) in spite of the fact that Sweden is the fourth happiest country in the world (2013). (Scandinavian fellows Norway and Denmark are numbers 1 and 6. The American Way's bastion of rectitude and free enterprise is, lessee, 7, 8, 9, 10 - Oh, here it is, number 11.)

H.L. Mencken has been quoted as saying this in reference to puritanical Americans,

"Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."

Doesn't the fact that Swedes say Suck! instead of its English translation Sigh! just reinforce your revulsion for the country that at least one author has said houses the most beautiful women in the world? (The Danes say Suk, hardly an improvement.)

Um, now where was I?

Oh, yeah, tampons.

Well, Swedes probably accepted tampons faster than Americans because in general they accept naughty things faster (and in an ad). Tampax famously had early trouble getting Americans to buy tampons and still does, and more so in even more conservative countries (read a Wall Street Journal article, Dec. 8, 2000, "Seeking New Markets For Tampons, Procter & Gamble Tries 'Bonding Sessions' And School Slide Shows To Win Sales in Mexico").

See the Carefree tampon and read more about it. It's like o.b. in disguise; the same company later sold that tampon.

Oh, yes, the strange colors I used to tint the woman's face at the top of this page are the colors of the Swedish flag.


Below:  The black-and-white ad filled the bottom half of a 10 1/2 x 13 1/2" (26.7 x 34.3 cm) page.

See some Personal Products booklets for girls

© 1999 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