See the roughly contemporary Cashay tampon,
box, instructions. (Procter & Gamble donation, 2001), and
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Lotus tampon, U.S.A., late 1930s-early 1940s?
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I can't pinpoint the date of this tampon but Consumer Reports of September, 1945, evaluated its sister product Lotus De Luxe (Fluff Style) sanitary napkin, so Lotus existed at that time in one form. (Lotus De Luxe rated an "acceptable" mark along with familiar names like Kotex and Modess.) I suspect it existed at least in the late 1930s because of some wording on the folder in the box.The box's color is close to Kotex blue, common for the early menstrual products, which the history of Procter & Gamble called hospital blue; Dr. Lillian Gilbreth didn't like it, as she reported to Johnson & Johnson in 1927.The typeface almost throughout the product looks art déco to me, appropriate for the late 1930s.The Procter & Gamble Company kindly donated this box of Lotus
along with dozens of other early American menstrual devices.
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Taking the manufacturer's invitation, I did immerse the roughly contemporary Dale tampon, which hugely expanded like the drawing above, but I didn't this tampon. The unfurled folder, as above, measures 7.1" x 3.84" (about 18 x 9.75 cm). |
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Statements like "Lotus Tampons do away with the embarrassment of old ways [pads]" and "You'll delight in the utter freedom from belts, pins and pads. No bulges . . . ." put Dale among the early tampons in their emphasis on the disadvantages of pads. Many early tampons made similar statements - no, no, you're right, not the tampons themselves, but the people who wrote the promotional copy. |
Box - tampon & bag
See the roughly contemporary Cashay and Dale tampons, and very early Tampax and fax.