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THE MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S HEALTH
Sponges for contraception - birth control - and absorbing
menstrual discharge
Women have probably used sponges to absorb menstrual discharge
for thousands of years, but they have also used them as contraceptives and
for putting medication into the vagina (as with tampons; see hieroglyphics
from about 1550 BCE). Sometimes it's hard to say which sponge was used for
what - but maybe women sometimes used them for all three purposes.
During the era of the Comstock Act in the U.S.A., 1873 to
well into the 20th century, when "artificial" contraception was
illegal, American women used sponges to hold liquids that killed sperm as
well as to absorb menstrual blood, but ads could not say this. Thus
the assertion in the ad, below, that the sponge could keep the vagina "germ
free," similar to the wording of douche ads (see a Lysol
ad, among others, for this dual purpose).
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The ad is from the American Medical Association Archives, Chicago,
and reproduced in Devices & Desires: A History
of Contraceptives in America, by Andrea Tone (Hill and Wang, 2001
- buy
it). Undated, it looks to me as if it's from the early 20th or late
19th century. Professor Tone notes that the word "germ" really
means "sperm."
See examples of this box and sponge, below.
But first . . . |
Cleaning sponges
Dr. Philip Tierno, Jr., a MUM board member
and expert on the safety of menstrual products, writes (October 1999), in
part,
The odor emanating from the used and washed sponges represent the action
of surviving vaginal bacteria and their degradation of menstrual debris
that survives the wash. The only effective way to sanitize those sponges
is by boiling for about 5 to 10 minutes. This
will kill ALL bacteria there.
Interestingly, looking back in history, women used to boil their menstrual
"rags" to get them clean. This
is an analogous circumstance.
John Fleer, who lives in Michigan (U.S.A.), searched for patent medicine
bottles in old drugstores in the central part of the U.S.A. for many years,
and came upon this menstrual sponge (the orange can,
below) about 1966 in an area of Kansas located next to an Army training
area during World War II. The drugstore was deserted, although bookies had
used it recently for their illegal operations! He kindly donated it to MUM
after reading an article about this museum in the Chicago Tribune.
Both the red cross and the word "health" make the medical
connection to menstruation, a hangover from the medicalization of menstruation
in the last century, which apparently occurred because of the feeling of
shame Victorianism caused women to feel about their bodies. Mothers then
abandoned teaching their daughters about their periods; doctors - males
- took over by default, and the rest is history.
But the word may also refer to its possible use as a birth-control device.
Dr. Barbara Czerwinski, of the University of Texas, a MUM board
member, who has completed a study for the U.S. Department of Defense
of the hygienic requirements of female members of the Armed Forces, believes
the U.S. Army may have issued this sponge to female troops (WAC) destined
for the South Pacific.
The National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution
has three similar examples of sponges (at least it did in 1995).
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This is the sponge (below) and case (bottom part at left)
John Fleer sent to MUM, which was perhaps available during World War II.
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The contents of the above can.
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You are looking at another case, date unknown, from an angle.
It is virtually the same size and shape as the first sponge can, although
the top is slightly domed. The can is
empty. See a similar but not identical can with
sponge.
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Below: Again, another sponge
and case are virtually identical to the Fleer sponge, above.
A woman in an American Pacific coast state found two of
these in the effects of a deceased aunt and generously sent one to the museum
in July 2001. Figuring backwards from her age, her aunt probably bought
it between 1920 and 1930 - unless SHE inherited it! The typography reminds
me of the 1930s - 1940s.
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The case matches the Fleer sponge in size.
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Side view
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The sponge nestled in its case.
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© 2001 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 report suspected violations to hfinley@mum.org
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