Read selections from Pierce's The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser; or, Medicine Explained, (below) 1895, Buffalo, New York, from Pierce's own press at his World's Dispensary Medical Association: "Spermatorrhea' (loss of semen without copulation, which usually means masturbation), portrait of Pierce, and his hospital.
See also Cardui patent medicine booklet covers, testimonials, examination sheet
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.
See the Wix tampon, instructions, patent, The Fascinating Story of Wix (and another version) and store instruction sheet. And read an ad in the Sears catalog for Wix and see a Wix tampon store display ad.
Early commercial tampons
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)
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).
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? | 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.

Dr. R. V. Pierce's patent medicine empire and hospital, often
concerned with women's diseases, cancer, digestive illness, fatigue,
headache, hysteria, female weakness, gynecology, obstetrics,
nervous disorders, childbirth, and menstruation
Dr. Pierce's hospital

Look at the magnificent Invalid's Hotel and Surgical Institute that Dr. Pierce created (right below) in Buffalo, New York, and its entrance (bottom picture). Both come from his Medical Adviser, 1895 edition. This edition states that it had a staff of 18 "physicians and surgeons."

But "The Great American Fraud," an historic article (1905) in Collier's long series exposing America's scandalous patent medicine business, the writer says the impressive buildings often pictured in the business' marketing material were often exaggerated. I wonder if this building below was too.

SarahAnne Hazlewood generously donated the Dr. Pierce material to this museum.

NEXT: Dr. Pierce's "The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English; or, Medicine Simplified" (cover), 1895, Buffalo, New York - Main Pierce page with links

© 1998 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