Ads for teens (see also introductory page
for teenage advertising): Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and Quest napkin powder, 1948, U.S.A.),
Are you in the know? (Kotex
napkins, 1953, U.S.A.), Are you in the know? (Kotex napkins and belts, 1964, U.S.A.), Freedom (1990, Germany),
Kotex (1992, U.S.A.),
Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.),
Pursettes (1974, U.S.A.),
Saba (1975, Denmark)
More ads for teens: See a Modess True or False? ad in The American Girl magazine, January
1947, and actress Carol Lynley in "How Shall
I Tell My Daughter" booklet ad (1955) - Modess
. . . . because ads (many dates).
 
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LOX theatrical menstrual tampons (1930s-1940s?, U.S.A.)
I think the manufacturer wanted LOX - no connection to bagels! - to
suggest "locks," meaning that it wouldn't fall out during stage
performances. A menstruating woman who had to perform
in front of an audience had big problems until recently
(and sometimes still today). Two German writers pointed out that
women in the theater profession, in Germany, anyway, were among the few
women who used special menstrual protection, like pads, in the 19th and
earlier centuries. Otherwise, most women bled into their chemise or other
clothing, sometimes for days without changing. (Read a discussion
of this.)
It seems amazing that a company would develop a tampon specifically
for stage use (but that apparently was an early use for tampons; see the
instructions for Tamponettes),
but possibly it cost more. Someone - a clerk? - wrote ".50" on
the box, maybe meaning 50 cents, which would be five cents a tampon, I believe
expensive in the late 30s or early 40s, when I think this appeared. Tamponettes
cost 2.4 cents apiece in 1939.
Procter & Gamble kindly donated the box of tampons in 2001, part
of a huge gift of ancient menstrual products.
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Each of the ten tampons come wrapped in cellophane.
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The cardboard applicator is 5.25" (ca. 13.3 cm.) long, the tampon
2" (ca. 5.2 cm.) long. There is only one tube, as opposed to the triumphant
two-tube Tampax, which appeared in the early 1930s (Tampax patent).
See the instructions for how LOX works, its theory,
and the sales pitch.
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