Read the main Hartmann page and see similar early U.K. towels (menstrual pads) by Mosana.
Washable pads - Menstrual sponge - Swedish advertisement for a belt and pad and adhesive pad
Suspenders for holding pads (U.S.A., 19th century)
Ads for the Kotex stick tampon (U.S.A., 1970s) - a Japanese stick tampon from the 1970s.
Early commercial tampons - Rely tampon - Meds tampon (Modess)
HOMEPAGE
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? |
Email the museum |
Privacy on this site |
Who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! |
Art of menstruation (and awesome ancient art of menstruation) |
Artists (non-menstrual) |
Asbestos |
Belts |
Bidets |
Birth control and religion |
Birth control drugs, old |
Birth control douche & sponges |
Founder bio |
Bly, Nellie |
MUM board |
Books: menstruation & menopause (& reviews) |
Cats |
Company booklets for girls (mostly) directory |
Contraception and religion |
Contraceptive drugs, old |
Contraceptive douche & sponges |
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 |
Feminine napkin, towel, pad directory |
Founder/director biography |
Gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux |
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Links |
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Menarche booklets for girls and parents |
Miscellaneous |
Museum future |
Norwegian menstruation exhibit |
Odor |
Olor |
Pad, towel, napkin directory |
Patent medicine |
Poetry directory |
Products, some current |
Puberty booklets for girls and parents|
Religion |
Religión y menstruación |
Your remedies for menstrual discomfort |
Menstrual products safety |
Sanitary napkin, towel, pad directory |
Seguridad de productos para la menstruación |
Science |
Shame |
Slapping, menstrual |
Sponges |
Synchrony |
Tampon directory |
Early tampons |
Teen ads directory |
Tour of the former museum (video) |
Towel, pad, sanitary napkin directory |
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 |
Read 10 years (1996-2006) of articles and Letters to Your MUM on this site.
Leer la versión en español de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepción y religión, Breve reseña - Olor - Religión y menstruación - Seguridad de productos para la menstruación.

THE MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S HEALTH

Early disposable menstrual napkin: Southall's
Ads from the U.S.A., and U.K. 1887 - 1894 (see more British Southall's ads )

Assuming the date 1887 is correct, this might be the first disposable pad, earlier than Hartmann. But information keeps appearing so the final story has not yet been written.

Some ads mention that it's cheaper to burn them or throw them away than wash them, perfect for traveling women. Which raises the question of paying someone to wash them - were there companies that did that?

The company early used an apostrophe in two different positions - see below - but today uses none.

Read the main Hartmann page and see similar early U.K. towels (menstrual pads) by Mosana.


I thank Ben Truwe for the scans of the American ads, below, and Dr Sara Read  for the ad from the United Kingdom.

Below: left, from Herald of Gospel Liberty, June 30, 1892; right, from
The Ladies' Home Journal and Practical Housekeeper, May, 1887.
I left in the Hires ad, which calls root beer a "temperance beverage," that is, it replaces alcohol.
 
 
 Below: from The Youth's Companion, June 2, 1892.
 
 Below: from Harper's Bazaar, September 24, 1887.
 
Below: Unknown date and source. Dr Sara Read kindly sent the scan.
Compare this with the comparable American ad below this.
I wonder if wool irritated some women - if this wool
was the kind from sheep.

Below: from Harper's Bazaar, December 22, 1894.
Compare with the British ad right above.
American bluster seems to be at work
with "The Greatest Invention of the Century for Woman's Comfort."
 
 Below: from Harper's Bazaar, May 14, 1892
 

See British ads for Southalls' the main Hartmann early disposable pad page and see similar early U.K. towels (menstrual pads) by Mosana.
Washable pads - Menstrual sponge - Swedish advertisement for a belt and pad and adhesive pad
Suspenders for holding pads (U.S.A., 19th century)

© 2013 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any of the work on
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