Other Modess ads: another from 1928, 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French Modess, and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.
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)
DIRECTORY of all topics (See also the SEARCH ENGINE, bottom of page.)
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links: homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | 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.

Don't Speak to the Clerk: "Silent Purchase" Modess
Menstrual Pad Ad, June 1928 (U.S.A.)

Many women were, and still are, embarrassed to buy menstrual products.

One way companies devised to overcome this was to offer notes to give to sales clerks, the "silent purchase" of the ad below. A writer to MUM said that companies used this method also during World War II.

The German company that sold Camelia pads (scroll to bottom of that page), the second disposable pad in that country (see an ad for the first), until about 1950 put a slip of paper into each box of pads asking the clerk to sell this person a plainly wrapped box of Camelia. And a sign in stores told customers to ask a female clerk for the pads.

Mail-order catalogs, like Sears, Roebuck in the U.S.A., provided another way for women to buy menstrual products without embarrassing themselves, and promoted this fact (see an ad for the 1930s tampon Wix).

Readable enlargements of the words of the ad appear below the first picture.

 

 

 

Other Modess ads: another from 1928, 1931,"Modess . . . . because" ads, the French Modess,
and the German "Freedom" (Kimberly-Clark) for teens.

© 1999 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work on
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