Compare a French Modess ad, a German ad, and another French ad featuring just a man!
And see a Modess . . . . because pad dispenser from the Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. (U.S.A.).
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:
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.

Modess . . . . because ads, part 3 (parts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
and playing cards and pad belt)

Modess sanitary napkins conducted a famous advertising campaign from the 1940s to the 1970s in the U.S.A. Usually the only words were "Modess . . . . because." Advertising journals of the time occasionally made fun of the series; sometimes they praised it. In a sense, the unfinished phrase summed up the American public's feelings about menstruation: It's something it couldn't talk about!
Read a Johnson & Johnson inside account of the origin of this campaign.

Nevertheless, these are probably the most elegant ads ever made for menstrual products.

Compare a French ad for Modess from probably the 1970s, a German one from 1990, and two ads for German o.b. tampons and see photos America would never dare show in advertising for menstrual hygiene. They show a more open French and German attitude toward the body; the body is NOT unspeakable!

 

1973
This might be one of the last ads; the signature ad copy, at the beginning, has changed. The copy reads,
Modess more than ever . . . [note that there are only three dots here, instead of the usual four. When an ad campaign fizzles out, it does so in small ways.] because
Today's Modess is the most protective Modess there ever was. Cradled in moisture-proofing. Channeled deep in its softness to absorb faster, to protect you better.
Flushable [!] if you want it. With deodorant protection, of course. In more than one shape and size, because you're nobody else, nobody else but you.
Modess, more than ever . . . because.

Next (page 4)
Modess . . . . because ads parts 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7

and playing cards and pad belt)
Compare a French Modess ad, a German ad, and another French ad featuring
just a man! And see a Modess . . . . because pad dispenser from the Smithsonian Institution.

© 1999 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