Other amazing women: Nellie Bly, Lydia Pinkham, Dr. Marie
Stopes
Historical remedies for menstrual period
pain and problems. See more remedies here.
A discussion of the letter testimonials,
and their authenticity, of the Pinkham company (in a discussion of a Pursettes
ad with a letter testimonial)
See two letters to MUM about the ingredients
of her Compound, and one about the lyrics of an English
pop song, Lily the Pink, about her.
Other amazing women: Nelli Bly,
Dr. Marie Stopes, Dr. Grace Feder Thompson

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Bird eye (bird's eye) cloth for homemade washable menstrual pads and
diapers
Ad in the Washington Post, September 11, 1904
In the 19th and 20th centuries, and probably even today, women made
diapers for their children and menstrual napkins for themselves from an
absorbent cloth called bird's eye, which had a pattern that looked like
a, um, bird's eye.
When this online museum was a real museum in
my house for four years, I strung a clothes line and hung a bird's cloth
from it, showing visitors how some back yards looked in those earlier times.
A photographer from the Chicago Tribune who visited the museum with a reporter
told me that he saw many menstrual rags hanging in the yards of many houses
in a black section of Chicago where he lived in the 1950s. He said he and
friends would try to guess which women were wearing them by observing the
bulges under their clothes.
See a modern, beautiful bowl to soak used menstrual pads in.
I again thank the genealogist for the many
many ads she's sent, including this one.
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Someone wrote MUM the following in March 2006:
"About washable pads: there are quite
a few moms who have work-at-home businesses making these things. I find
them to be far superior to Glad Rags. This page shows several styles:
http://www.diaperware.com/mooncare/mooncare.htm
See also the patent medicine Cardui,
Dr. Grace Feder Thompson's letter appealing for
patients, Dr. Pierce's medicines, and Orange Blossom medicine.
© 2006 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce
or distribute work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written
permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org
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