Enovid brochure, 1960 (Physicians' Product Brochure No. 67, G.D. Searle & Co., U.S.A.)
Enovid-E package (1964)
Ad for Ergoapiol, treatment for painful or missing menstrual periods or other irregularities of the menstrual cycle - or for abortion,
1904.
Patent medicine at this museum.
Read Malcolm Gladwell's riveting New Yorker magazine article about the invention of the birth control pill.
See early contraceptive sponges disguised for other uses.
Patent medicine at this museum.
Read about contraception and religion.
Would you stop menstruating if you could?
See other early Pills from the National Museum of American History.
HOMEPAGE
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? |
Email the museum |
Privacy on this site |
Who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! |
Art of menstruation (and awesome ancient art of menstruation) |
Artists (non-menstrual) |
Asbestos |
Belts |
Bidets |
Birth control and religion |
Birth control drugs, old |
Birth control douche & sponges |
Founder bio |
Bly, Nellie |
MUM board |
Books: menstruation & menopause (& reviews) |
Cats |
Company booklets for girls (mostly) directory |
Contraception and religion |
Contraceptive drugs, old |
Contraceptive douche & sponges |
Costumes |
Menstrual cups |
Cup usage |
Dispensers |
Douches, pain, sprays |
Essay directory |
Examination, gynecological (pelvic) (short history) |
Extraction |
Facts-of-life booklets for girls |
Famous women in menstrual hygiene ads |
FAQ |
Feminine napkin, towel, pad directory |
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, towel, napkin directory |
Patent medicine |
Poetry directory |
Products, some current |
Puberty booklets for girls and parents|
Religion |
Religión y menstruación |
Your remedies for menstrual discomfort |
Menstrual products safety |
Sanitary napkin, towel, pad directory |
Seguridad de productos para la menstruación |
Science |
Shame |
Slapping, menstrual |
Sponges |
Synchrony |
Tampon directory |
Early tampons |
Teen ads directory |
Tour of the former museum (video) |
Towel, pad, sanitary napkin directory |
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 |
Read 10 years (1996-2006) of articles and Letters to Your MUM on this site.
Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.


The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health

An early (1964) birth control pill: Enovid-E
("Physician's professional sample"), U.S.A.
"Planning Your Family" booklet

Introduction.

A woman who has donated other items to MUM kindly donated this package to the museum.

Below: The hidden pages 19-20, revealed after you open the flap facing p. 18,
which peeks in at left.
The Compack appears to be something you bought separately. Compack seems
to be a variation on "compact," a small case for cosmetics that it resembles.
Look how feminine the woman's sleeve and nails, and the mirror, are, probably associating
proper middle-class (and above) - "nice" - women with the Pill, not slovenly tramps,
who would gobble it gleefully! The flowers (roses), things often associated with menstruation,
are yellow, not blood red, the thing the Pill banishes.
Speaking of the fateful task of preventing pregnancy, I feel awful for the women with attention deficit disorder
who read the instructions at right. For them, the coup de menstruation would be trying the origami tampon!
 

End See early contraceptive sponges disguised for other uses. Ad for Ergoapiol, treatment for painful or missing menstrual periods or other irregularities of the menstrual cycle - or for abortion, 1904. Patent medicine at this museum.
Enovid brochure, 1960
Enovid-E:
Exterior of package - Interior of the package with Pills - The product insert explaining composition, usage, precautions, contraindications and side effects (pages 1-3, 10; 4-7) - family planning booklet: covers & pp. 2-3, pp. 4-7, 8-11, 12-15, 16-"inside back cover," 19-20

© 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