See an ad for Dr. Schenk's Mandrake Pills,
appearing on a trade card for journalist Nellie Bly.
See Dr. Grace Feder Thompson's letter appealing
for patients, Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound,
and Orange Blossom medicine, Dr. E. C. Abbey's
The Sexual System and Its Derangements, which emphasises
masturbation, as doe Dr. Pierce, and several small
boxes of old American patent medicine for women.
And, of course, the first Tampax AND - special
for you! - the American fax tampon,
from the early 1930s, which also came in bags.
See a Modess True or False? ad in The American
Girl magazine, January 1947, and actress Carol Lynley
in "How Shall I Tell My Daughter" booklet ad (1955) - Modess . . . . because ads (many dates).
 
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Constipation relief?
Dr. Young's Improved Rectal Dilators for the Auxiliary Treatment of
Piles and Constipation (U.S.A., 1900?-1940?)
Whatever physiological/anatomical theory Dr. Young had in mind when
he made these objects - he wrote that gradually
widening the anus with his devices will treat constipation - they respond
to the desire for relief of apparently the many people afflicted with constipation
in America (read a chapter of a book for women
about the subject). Read the instructions.
But there's another use for the dilators, one that Rachel
Maines uncovered for vibrators advertised in late 19th century and early
20th century American knitting magazines: sexual pleasure.
Some people slide objects into their or their sexual partner's anus (and
rectum) for fun. No, no! I'm not kidding!
Consider the shape of the dilators: they look like penises to me! Of
course, maybe the bulge on the business end just gives the sphincter something
to grab, a practical use. And just because that bulging end has a hole in
it (see the picture, below), kinda like the opening of the urethra, doesn't
mean that it doesn't allow air to escape.
Products are not always used for what they're advertised to do. Alcohol-loaded
patent medicine allowed respectable ladies as late as the 1960s - maybe
even today - to get a buzz without outing themselves by visiting a liquor
store (for example, Mrs. Pinkham's Vegetable
Compound). Teenage boys used to buy booklets with pictures of nude women
that were supposedly made to aid artists.
Whatever the real purpose of these items - maybe it was both - on the
inside bottom of the box (too fuzzy to show) Dr. Young offered an even bigger
one, No. 5, for $1.50, postpaid, after the customer had master - um, mastered
1-4. What was going on in the bedrooms and bathrooms of America? Maybe nothing
new.
SarahAnne Hazlewood generously donated the dilators to this museum.
Read the instructions and see the box.
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The dilators are made of a fairly heavy, black shiny plastic-like
material, possibly Bakelite, and are loose in the box.
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Below: Each dilator has a flange on the bottom (pictured above) - the light-colored
part surrounding the dark center in the picture below
- possibly to prevent the dilator from disappearing into the rectum. Note
the 4, which means size 4. Lacking anything more interesting to do, it also
allows the owner to line them up on a horizontal surface, maybe to admire
them, as I did, above.
A hole about 3 mm in diameter
penetrates the end that enters the anus (white spot, below, which is at
the far end), probably to allow air to escape.
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Below: the arrow points to the
hole in the front of the dilator.
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© 2000 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute any
of the 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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