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.)
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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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!
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Above: from Sandusky [Ohio] Daily Register,
May 28, 1891.
Below: from The Herald and Torch Light,
Hagerstown, Maryland, April 11, 1895
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Below left: from Oakland [California]
Tribune, June 14, 1904. Right: from Oakland
[California] Tribune, July 6, 1906
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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).
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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.
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Below: prices of Lysol and other
cleaners and bug killers from The Daily Review, Decatur, Illinois, May 6,
1914
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Below: prices of Lysol and similar
material, from The Atlanta [Georgia] Constitution, July 3, 1904
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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.
© 2006 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
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