Read about the start of one of Kotex's competitors, Tampax.
See the first Kotex ad (scroll down the page a bit).
See the Kotex Quest menstrual pad deodorant.
But read what really causes menstrual odor - you won't like it.
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 pills ad, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Vionell genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche liquid 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.


The Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health

Cellucotton & Kotex
Menstrual pads & tampons, U.S.A.
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
Early newspaper reports and later ads

Cellucotton formed the basis for Kotex - the name stands for cotton texture - in its publicity and in the actual pad (see some). It replaced cotton, which most sanitary napkins had used until then. But cotton was expensive; women washed those pads rather than throwing them out. Few women liked to handle the bloody things; many jumped at the opportunity to toss the used pads. Although other disposable pads, like Lister's Towels, preceded Kotex, women in 1920 seemed ready for the pads that nurses allegedly praised in the war that had just ended.

See the first Kotex ad (scroll down the page a bit). Read about the start of one of Kotex's competitors, Tampax.

But early suspected Kimberly-Clark tampons seem to have also used Cellucotton: Nunap and Moderne Woman, giving away their true manufacturer.

For the top two articles I thank the industrious retired teacher and genealogist for sending this scan and many others! Ben Truwe generously contributed a copy of the bottom article.

Below: from The Capitol Times, Madison, Wisconsin, Dec. 20, 1917.
Below: from Appleton [Wisconsin] Post Crescent, Oct. 16, 1920.
 
Below: from Appleton [Wisconsin] Post Crescent, Dec. 11, 1922. Ben Truwe generously sent this copy.
  
 
Below: The first part of an article about Kimberly-Clark and Kotex. Parents magazine, November 1959.
 
See two later Kotex newspaper ads mentioning Cellucotton, 1928 and 1930.
Read about the start of one of Kotex's competitors, Tampax.

More Kotex: Ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday

© 2006 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work
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