See also 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 pill, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Sterizol douche liquid ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Vionell genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
***The Perils of Vaginal Douching*** (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepage | MUM 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.

Vaginal hygiene (douching) in The Intimate Side of a Woman's Life, by Leona W. Chalmers (1937, Pioneer Publications, Inc., Radio City, New York)

Leona Chalmers, who patented her menstrual cup the year this book appeared (read her discussion of it in this book), advocated douching, the flushing out of the vagina with water or another liquid. Many writers and doctors also promoted it until recently. Experts today do not recommend routine douching and douching for many special purposes because it upsets the healthy ecology of the vagina, sometimes worsening the very condition it's supposed to cure. Read an essay about this.

Remember when you read her discussion of gonorrhea that this chapter appeared before the use of antibiotics. You'll note several other outmoded beliefs and practices, as well as some substandard editing of the text, including capitalization of the wrong words, by today's standards, at least. Chalmers emphasizes sex appeal and uses the word feminine in the way many menstrual products companies do, to lessen the unpleasantness many women felt, and feel, about things and processes "down there." "Dainty" and "daintiness" often have the same function and crop up on boxes and in advertising. Both words appear on the sparsely worded box for the "Faultless" syringe pictured here.

Read a general discussion of the book and douching information from Mon Docteur, a company roughly contemporary, and associated with the Daintette menstrual cup - yes, Daintette.

The director of the cytology section of a state public health department kindly donated the book.

 

NEXT

© 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