See more patent medicines.
Read 1930s criticism of Lysol and Zonite here.
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 pill, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Sterizol douche liquid ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Vionell genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
***The Perils of Vaginal Douching*** (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page
Australian douche ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca douche (date ?) - Kotique douche 1974 ad - Liasan (1) ad - Liasan (2) ad - Lysol 1928 ad - Lysol 1948 ad - Marvel 1926 ad - Midol 1938 ad - Midol 1959 booklet - o.b. German (papyrus tampons) - Pristeen 1969 ad - o.b. German (nude) - Sterizol 1926 ad - Vionell spray 1970 ad (Germany) - the odor page

A British Tampax ad using nudity (1992) - And see other ads directed at teenagers.

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).
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepageMUM 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.

Lysol in the newspapers, 1891 - 1924, U.S.A.:
For killing insects and yourself, cleaning floors, douching, contraception (in ads linked at the bottom)

Lysol appeared first in Europe, a product of the new coal-tar derivatives developed at the end of the 19th century. As you'll see below, people used it for many things but no longer; the company stopped advertising it to disinfect vaginas as practiced, for example, by a 89-year-old Canadian woman (scroll down) who started douching with Lysol at 17 (in an e-mail in the February 2005 MUM News). In 1775, coal tar was the first substance identified as causing cancer. (See more patent medicines, some with coal tar derivatives, and see more douche liquids in the links to the left [scroll down]).

Women also used Lysol as a birth-control device, douching with it to kill sperm. Andrea Tone, in Devices & Desires (2001, Hill & Wang), writes of the vaginas that the liquid burned, as does the book Facts and Frauds in Woman's Hygiene, from 1936, here.

A retired teacher generously sent these scans as well as many others. Thanks!

 
Above: from Sandusky [Ohio] Daily Register, May 28, 1891.
Below: from The Herald and Torch Light, Hagerstown, Maryland, April 11, 1895
 
 Below left: from Oakland [California] Tribune, June 14, 1904. Right: from Oakland [California] Tribune, July 6, 1906
   
And on a brighter note, below: the song "Yes, We Have No Bananas" has new lyrics, incorporating popular patent medicines and herbs (from The Bee, Danville, Virginia, February 8, 1924).
Druggist's Parody On "Bananas."
There's a druggist in every town
With a pretty store
When a customer comes around,
He sees everything galore:
Yet most everything he wants,
This man's always out,
Sadly through his shelves he'll jaunt,
Then you'll hear him shout.
Chorus.
Yes, We have no Castoria,
We have no more Tanlac today.
There's Pluto, Ungentine and Ex
Lax
And Lysol and Lydia Pinkham's
too.
We've got some old-fashioned sena,
Catnip and henna, but
Yes, We have no more Swamp Root,
We have no Peruna today.
 Below: prices of Lysol and other cleaners and bug killers from The Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois, May 6, 1914
 
 Below: prices of Lysol and similar material, from The Atlanta [Georgia] Constitution, July 3, 1904
 

See a Lysol douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) and another Lysol douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.). See more patent medicines.
1930s criticism of Lysol and Zonite here.

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