See the German booklet [Die] Menstruation (excerpts, 1977, o.b. tampons, Germany) Photographer David Hamilton contributed many photographs to this explicit and beautiful booklet. By the way, "Die" in the title means "the," not to lose life.
Booklets from about this time, 1956:
now you are 10 (complete booklet, 1958, Kotex, U.S.A.)
Essence of Womanhood (complete booklet, 1959, Personal Products Corp., Modess tampons, U.S.A.)
Growing Up and Liking It (1957, The Personal Products Company, U.S.A.)
How shall I tell my daughter? (1954, Personal Products Co., U.S.A.)
Sally and Mary and Kate Wondered . . . (complete booklet, cover, 1956, Personal Products Corp., U.S.A.)
"You're a young lady now" (complete booklet, 1952, Kotex, U.S.A.) The first owner might have printed her named on the back of the booklet. Complete booklet, 1959, apparently with the owner's name cut out.

"From Fiction to Fact: a teaching guide about puberty, menstruation and the human reproductive system" (complete 1966, 1986, Tambrands, U.S.A. The 1966 version is part of the huge "Educational Material on Menstruation furnished by the makers of Tampax," 1966)
Tell it like it is: Straight talk about tampons (complete booklet, 1968, Kotex stick tampons, U.S.A., revised 1974; complete booklet, 1981, although the title lacks the subtitle "Straight talk about tampons"). I wonder if "straight" alludes to the shape of tampons.
See a FAKE Tampax from Turkey.
Tampax Junior tampons, late 1930s-1940s
Tampax Satin Learner's Kit (for menstruation), 2001, in 3 languages
Instructions from Tampax about what to tell customers, 1936
See a French and American Tampax from 1938
Tampax "Educational Material on Menstruation," 1966
See a very early Tampax ad (1936) - a very early Tampax box and contents - more early commercial tampons
Booklets menstrual hygiene companies made for girls, women and teachers - patent medicine - a list of books and articles about menstruation - videos
See early tampons and a list of tampons on this site - at least the ones I've cataloged.
HOMEPAGE
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
HOMEPAGE |
LIST OF ALL TOPICS |
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.

German Tampax menstrual tampons educational booklet,
Es geht um die besten Jahre Ihres Lebens!
[It's a Matter of the Best Years of Your Life!]

1956[?], Germany

(deutsches Heft, Büchlein, Menstruation, Aufklärung, problems, PMS, puberty, menstrual cycle, tampons, girls, Mädchen, Frau, kritische Tage, Geschlechtsreife, Hormone, Wechseljahre, Beschwerden)
Whole booklet

In 1956, which is about when this booklet appeared based on internal evidence (see below), probably women who used tampons in Germany mostly used o.b., the home-grown brand without an applicator: the woman had to insert it all the way into the vagina with her finger rather than use the plunger applicator that Tampax invented and patented.

But women in Europe had already used Tampax for years, as ads and boxes testify.

This German booklet aggressively emphasizes the cleanliness and effectiveness of using the Tampax applicator instead of a finger. And it does so in a logical, step-wise manner.

As expected from this era, a woman's place here is to be supportive, pretty and uncomplaining.

"Well groomed" - gepflegt - pops up more than once, hinting that using an applicator is much more lady-like than using one's finger.

Strangely, another phrase you read is "critical days," which seems to contradict a message of the booklet: "Actually the only difference between the time of the period and the other days of the week is the necessary wearing of protection that can absorb the menstrual flow." It's hard to decide if the phrase is meant to be negative because of such phrases as "simple and normal affair - the critical days." Is it a translation from English? Was the whole booklet a translation from English?

Unfortunately, the text is mostly jammed together - few breaks relieve the eye-and-brain strain. At one point the text advises the reader to study it in a quiet place, good advice in order to tease the ideas apart!

And it assures women they won't lose the five years of the title if they use Tampax!

The pages face one another; you can determine which side by noting which side the center appears, the darkened edge.

See the German booklet [Die] Menstruation (excerpts, 1977, o.b. tampons)
Similar booklets in the column at left.
I thank the Dutch contributor of many items to the museum and this site for these scans!

Below: Front cover (same as back cover).
My - Harry Finley's - translations sit beneath each scan on these pages.
The contributor of the scans writes:
The booklet is 198 mm wide x 100 mm high (oblong) [7.8 x 3.9"],
it has a front with title, the inside front is blank and then 32 pages (not numbered) and then the
back inside and the back. The back is exactly the same, with the same title
(Es geht um die besten Jahre Ihres Lebens!), very strange.
There is no date in the booklet, but on page 12 when introducing tampons
it said that Tampax already existed for 20 years. So I think the date is about 1956.
[The company that owned Tampax until 1997, Tambrands, started in 1936 although
it was not the first Tampax company.]
I find using the zodiac odd.
Harry Finley's translation:

It's a Matter of the Best Years of Your Life!


NEXT | covers (front & back) - introduction - Natürlich Gesund Sinnvoll (Natural Healthy Meaningful) - Das Befinden und Verhalten in diesen Tagen (Your Condition and Behavior in these Days) - Das Wichtigste: Der Menstruationsschutz (The Most Important Thing: Menstrual Protection) - Tampax Tampon Hygiene - So sieht ein Tampax-Tampon aus (This is What a TAMPAX Tampon Looks Like) - So wird Tampax angewendet (How to Use Tampax) - Die grosse Bedeutung der Gleithülse (The Great Importance of the Applicator) - Die Tampax Gleithülse (The Tampax Applicator) - So wirkt der Tampax-Tampon (Here's How the Tampax Tampon Works) - Tampax bei der praktishen Anwendung (Tampax in Practice; Tampax Now in Three Sizes) - Tampax #1, #2 & Junior - Tampon-Wechsel (Changing the Tampon) - Bei stärker auftretender Menstruation (For Heavier Menstruation) - Tampax Anwendung für junge Mädchen (Tampax Use for Young Girls) - Eine oft gestellte Frage (An Oft-Asked Question [virginity]) - Glücklich Erleichtert Zufrieden (Happy Relieved Satisfied) - (Pictures of Tampax boxes compared with ones in this museum's collection)
Booklets from about this time, 1956:
now you are 10 (complete booklet, 1958, Kotex, U.S.A.)
Essence of Womanhood (complete booklet, 1959, Personal Products Corp., Modess tampons, U.S.A.)
Growing Up and Liking It (1957, The Personal Products Company, U.S.A.)
How shall I tell my daughter? (1954, Personal Products Co., U.S.A.)
Sally and Mary and Kate Wondered . . . (complete booklet, cover, 1956, Personal Products Corp., U.S.A.)
"You're a young lady now" (complete booklet, 1952, Kotex, U.S.A.) - Many more BOOKLETS - Many more TAMPONS
 

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