See a roughly contemporary pad, Society, and a "silent purchase" ad for Modess, 1928.
Other Modess ads: 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French Modess, and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.
See a prototype of the first Kotex ad.
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! |
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Essay directory |
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Your remedies for menstrual discomfort |
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Tampon directory |
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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 |
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 perfect menstrual pad 5 (1 2 2a 3 4 4a):
Last recommendation, #12

"Report of Gilbreth, Inc.," to Johnson & Johnson Company, 1 January 1927, about how to improve
the company's menstrual products, especially with regard to competition with Kotex pads

12. ADD A WOMAN TO THE STAFF!!

Men don't know everything - no, no, please, it's true!

Here's what Gilbreth wrote:

12. It is essential that a woman be added to the staff of Johnson & Johnson and that all products be submitted to women for inspection of design and tests for actual use. No laboratory devices for testing can take the place of actual wear. The product must be tested by various types of women who make maximum demands of some sort. The testers must be intelligent enough to test adequately, to note results accurately, to trace these back to the ultimate causes, and report truthfully and in detail. There are so many variables that an inadequate test or an unintelligent tester could be worthless or worse because their findings might encourage the development of a poor product or discourage the development of a good one.

I remember being amazed at the proportion of men authoring patents for menstrual products and the number of men running companies or divisions for menstrual products.

The first president of Tampax was a German-immigrant woman, but I wonder how many women have had that job since then. I wonder about the situation at Kotex and similar operations.

But times are changing. Your MUM is a - wait! I'm a guy, too!


Before I end this page, I must acknowledge that Henry Allen of the Washington Post wrote a sentence similar to "Men don't know everything - no, no please, it's true!" (which I write toward the top of the page), about 10 years ago. That's where I got the idea. I was dying to use it, and I just have.

END of Gilbreth Report
Gilbreth Report: 1 (introduction) 2 (college student's design & Smith College) 2a (names and colors) 3 (belts & accessories) 4 (conclusions & recommendations) 4a (a perfect pad?)

The copy of the report that I read, which may be unique, rests in the special collections of Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S.A. Dr. Gilbreth was the first woman engineering professor at Purdue.
© 1999 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