"Faultless Feminine
Syringe," No. 240, made by the Faultless
Rubber Company, Ashland, Ohio, U.S.A., perhaps
from the 1960s or 1970s.
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Mon Docteur vaginal douche set
(incomplete?), with (separate?)
documents, American, 1928-29?
Booklet: "Why
Haven't We Women Been Told This
Thing Before?" pages 1/2-3/4
Mon Docteur - French for "My
Doctor" (a nice medical connection
with French haughtiness and
naughtiness, huh?) - douche
apparatus allegedly cured many ills,
beautified the user and even could
prevent her from dying. This was an
era when a "germ"-free vagina led to
better health rather than to worse
health as believed today. (Read Luci
Rome's essay
on why women should not douche. And
for the heck of it, surprise
yourself with what
causes menstrual odor.)
Women could also buy an early
menstrual cup associated with the
same company. See it as well as more
literature about the beauty-douching
connection (!) here and here.
And read what Leona Chalmers,
who developed an early menstrual
cup, writes about douching in a
roughly contemporary book, The Intimate
Side of a Woman's Life.
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Senator Royal
Copeland, mentioned below,
former dean of a homeopathic medical
school and not a medical doctor, was
the "author of several scientific
works [and] nationally known for his
writings and radio broadcasts on
health problems" and served in the U.
S. Senate from 1923-1938, according to
http://bioguide.congress.gov/. He was
also loyal to New York's Tammany Hall
political machine.
But at the start of the great flu
pandemic of 1918-20, which killed
millions worldwide, as head of the New
York City health department, Dr.
Copeland and the port authority health
officer
jointly stated that there was "not
the slightest danger of an epidemic"
because the disease seldom attacks
"a well-nourished people." (Even had
he been right, a study by his own
health department had just concluded
that 20 percent of city school
children were malnourished.) He took
no action whatsoever to prevent the
spread of infection.
[from "The Great Influenza. The
Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague
in History" by John M. Barry (New
York, 2005)]
"Spank all the flappers" is
priceless, flappers being the wild
young women of the 1910s and 1920s in
America. I believe H. L. Mencken
brought the term from England when he
was editor of either The American
Mercury magazine or Smart Set.
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NEXT: Pages 5-8 of
Why Haven't We
Women Been Told This Thing Before?
Box -
douche syringe
- tablets -
Leaflet: The
"Mon Docteur" Way to Health[,]
Vitality[,] and Beauty (covers, pages
1, 2/3) -
Leaflet: This
is It (covers,
pages 2/3,
4/5, 6/7/8) -
Leaflet: Every
Woman Wants to be Lovely and
Belovèd (pages 1/4, 2/3) -
Booklet: Why
Haven't We Women Been Told This
Thing Before? (covers,
pages 1/2-3/4,
5/6-7/8, 9/10-11/12,
13/14-15/16,
17/18-19/20,
21/22) -
Booklet: The
Mon Docteur Treatments (pages
12/1, 2/3, 4/5, 6/7, 8/9, 10/11) - order form
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Copyright 2006 Harry Finley
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