For more daintiness, see Nupak ads from 1926 and 1927 (made by Johnson & Johnson, one of Kotex's main competitors).
See more Kotex items: First ad (1921) - ad, 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in a menstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
See a prototype of the first Kotex ad.
See more Kotex items: Ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls) - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
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)
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.

Ad for Kotex menstrual pads (U.S.A., 1932)

Kotex shows and describes its manufacturing process to assure readers of the pad's quality - and creates an oxymoron by using the the word "dainty" in contrast to the machinery shown, hardly dainty. Kotex thought the ad's readers wanted to be feminine, and it took what could be interpreted as a masculine process to make them that way. And women are in control of that process, by operating the machinery and overseeing the quality.

Wow, what an analysis, huh?

 

You can't see the word "immaculacy" (below, in the ad text) very often, but here it is again, in an ad for Vemo menstrual pad deodorant powder

 

". . . the mysterious, the nameless, the unknown . . . ." 
Kotex's frustrated novelists soar in this ad! Interestingly enough, the question of purity is relevant today, what with the dioxin question, and others, in menstrual products.

The hospital association in the text at the right impresses readers, playing on readers' beliefs that hospitals are cleaner than other places. Hah! If you're sick it's a dangerous place to be because of the antibiotic-bacteria lurking everywhere. And that's just today. In the past women have dug in their heels because they might never see the light of day after having had a baby there.
For more daintiness, see Nupak ads from 1926 and 1927 (made by Johnson & Johnson, one of Kotex's main competitors). See more Kotex items: Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method

© 2000 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