See the roughly contemporary Cashay tampon, box,
instructions. (Procter & Gamble
donation, 2001), and
Dale (U.S.A.,
1930s?-1940s?) Tampons, box, instructions.
(Procter & Gamble donation, 2001)
And, of course, the first Tampax AND -
special for you! - the American fax
tampon, from the early 1930s, which also
came in bags.
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Lotus tampon, U.S.A., late 1930s-early
1940s?
Bag and Tampon
I don't know how well the tampon
absorbed the menstrual discharge
if it didn't swell. Maybe it just
didn't swell much. Note
that it had no insertion tube like
many tampons of the time (for
example, Fibs);
Tampax
invented that and patented
it.
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
tampon along with dozens of
other early American menstrual
devices.
Harry Finley created the scans.
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The box contains
two bags, above, one of which was
opened and missing two tampons
when P&G gave it to me. The
early tampons fax
and Sa-tips
also came in bags within a box.
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The tampon plug measures about
2.25" x 0.75" in diameter (about
5.6 x 2 cm). The string penetrates
one side of the flat end and
emerges to wrap around the plug
(right side, below, and the end
view below that). It looks as if
it's made of coils of cotton. The
plug emerged from its bag with the
string wrapped as below.
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The string, below,
stretches 6" (about 15.3 cm).
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END Box - folder - See the
roughly contemporary Cashay
and Dale tampons,
and very early Tampax
and fax.
©
2006 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
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