See the roughly contemporary Cashay and Dale tampons, and very early Tampax and fax.
See a longer version of the report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 1945.
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.

Tampons as "menstrual guards" ("The Dickinson Report," 1945), U.S.A.

The report of Dr. Robert L. Dickinson, entitled "Tampons as menstrual guards," in the 16 June 1945 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, was important for its promotion of tampon use and the tampon industry, and the discouragement of the use of pads by women. Using tampons meant inserting something into the vagina, territory mothers told their daughters to stay away from for sexual reasons. (Interestingly, one reason Dickinson gives for avoiding pads is the sexual stimulation of the woman by the friction of the pad against the vulva.) Many women, even today, believed that tampons could block the menstrual flow rather than absorb it. And there are other reasons discussed by the doctor.

This is a version of the journal article prepared and published by Consumer Reports, in the September 1945 issue. It is less technical than the JAMA original, although approved by Dickinson, and contains valuable information about American practice and beliefs from over 50 years ago.

Read the full version of this report.

Tambrands, the former maker of the Tampax tampon, kindly donated this report to MUM.

Go to the next page, the last page of the report or to Early Commercial Tampons.

The report is copyright 1945 Consumers Union

Go to the next page, the last page of the report or to Early Commercial Tampons.
See the roughly contemporary Cashay and Dale tampons, and very early Tampax and fax.

copyright 1998 Harry Finley