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MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S HEALTH
Kotams menstrual tampons (1944-1955?, U.S.A.,
International Cellucotton Products Co.,
maker of Kotex menstrual pads, panties,
belts, educational booklets),
First page of this version of Kotams.
I thank Procter & Gamble for donating the
box!
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Below: The tampon
(4 3/4" [12.1 cm] long) right out of the box.
The black vertical thing about halfway across
the 'pon is a band the user
pulls to split the cellophane encasing the tampon in two parts so
she can throw it away before inserting Kotams (see the instructions).
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Below: I took the smaller, rear tube off
to show the cotton (?) net that serves
as a string to pull the tampon out of the vagina.
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Below: The tampon disassembled. The instructions refer to the safety
grip and safety catch.
At bottom, the plug, the absorbing end,
measures about 2 x 1/2" (at the fat end) (5.3 x 1.3 cm).
The free-hanging net, which stretches a bit,
is a little less than 3" (about 7.5 cm)
long beyond that small knob on the end of the plug.
I can't imagine women liked the hard, glued-together
end of the net - it feels like BROKEN GLASS - that
must have scraped and poked their you-know-whats.
I suspect the company thought it
was an improvement over the unglued net of
its predecessors Moderne Woman,
fax & Nunap.
The larger tube (top) measures 2 3/4 x
9/16" (6.9 x 1.4 cm),
the smaller tube 3 x 1/2" (7.5 x 1.3 cm).
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Below: I pulled part of the net
away from the plug, which
has the characteristic texture of Cellucotton.
A net that served as a string also enclosed the company's first
and unsuccessful tampons
Moderne Woman, fax & Nunap
from the 1930s, which might have existed before Tampax.
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End | box instructions
© 2009 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
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violations to hfinley@mum.org\
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