See a 1965 ad for a Pursettes school educational kit - Pursettes Getting to Know Yourself booklet for girls - other teaching booklets: Growing Up and Liking It and How Shall I Tell My Daughter? - underpants directory - tampon directory - early commercial tampons - ads for teens
Early commercial tampons - main page for ads for teens - see the actual Pursette tampon, box and tote - See more ads for Pursettes: July 1972 (letter testimonial) - October 1974 (cartoon story) - February 1974 (cartoon story) - September 1972 (letter testimonial) - August 1974 (letter testimonial) - 1975 (cartoon story)
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.

Pursettes menstrual tampon ad, February 1974, U.S.A.
'Teen magazine
Why did Pursettes fail?

At least one tampon before Pursettes had a lubricated tip, Dale. Why weren't there more? Wouldn't the lubrication make it easier to insert the tampon into a somewhat dry vagina? A reader sends her explanation:

Harry,

I can offer a theory on why Pursettes tampons got discontinued.

Although the notion of a lubricated tampon is nice, the reality is that they didn't work so well. This was the first kind of tampon I ever tried (in the early 1980s). The lubricant, which was dried upon the tampon, acted more like a glue and made insertion terribly difficult unless one was bleeding very heavily. A tampon with nothing on it (such as OB) slides in far more easily than one which glues itself to the outside of the body upon contact. I ended up using KY jelly to get these things in and then switching to Kotex tampons on my next cycle.

****

Pursettes often used such cartoons for its ads (here and here) but also all-word testimonials, some of which defy belief.

Very large file so you can read the writing.

Below: Pursettes crows that it can hold more "fluid" than the leading tampon (probably Tampax) a problem related to the toxic shock outbreak about six years later; Rely tampon was at the center of that. I wonder if Pursettes had a problem with toxic shock. And, wow, record players are so last millennium!

See the actual Pursette tampon, box and tote - See more ads for Pursettes: July 1972 (letter testimonial) -
October 1974 (cartoon story) - February 1974 (cartoon story) - September 1972 (letter testimonial) -
August 1974 (letter testimonial) - 1975 (cartoon story)

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