See a set of the Daintette vaginal
douche, with pamphlets, etc., 1928-29?, U.S.A.
"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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Portable bidet, in the ready-to-use position (Paris, France, 1928)
A bidet has allowed men and women since possibly the Crusades (11th
to the 13th centuries) to wash feet, hair, beards, genitals and perineum.
The bather usually rides it like a pony; pony is what the word meant in the French of 400
or so years ago. Bidets today often fit onto toilets.
The beautiful bidet featured here, below,
seems to be made of oak, heavy enough to withstand water and usage, and
metal painted a gold color. There are no fancy jets of water; the user poured
water over her genitals - the old-fashioned way.
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The black object at left, the cat Prof.
Mack C. Padd, the Distinguished Service Institutional
Wallace C. Meyer Memorial Pouncer at the Museum of Menstruation, memorizes the grain pattern in the bidet's wood to present
to detectives in case the bidet is stolen. No, wait a second, I think he's
actually asleep.
Underneath the right section there is a metal plate
bearing the following words:
Siege - MATHIEU
B[?] S.G.D.G
DIPLôME D'HONNEUR
10, Rue Lacuée PARIS
(All photos by MUM director Harry Finley)
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The closest section of the bidet sports a star-and-circle
design formed by holes through the wood, probably allowing heat and drips
from a pot of water to escape from the surface, rather than puddle there.
I believe the bidet-er, sitting on the far end of the center section, put
a pot on this near section, from which she poured water onto her genitals,
the water then flowing into the central basin, which had a drain stopped
by a cork (the light-colored patch above the near rim). See a drawing
showing this.
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