Directory of tampons on this site.
Read also the important following articles (issues listed) in the Rochester (New York) Patriot newspaper, which investigated Rely in 1975 and 1976, years before the toxic shock crisis: 23 July-5 August 1975 (front cover) - 6-26 August 1975 - 11 December 1975-13 January 1976 - 1-14 September 1976) - a letter to a customer assuring her that Rely was safe (April 1980) - and a letter from Procter & Gamble (22 September 1980) announcing that it was stopping distribution of Rely because of health concerns
See also the product safety page on this site, and you must read the definitive government site dealing with menstrual products safety: the Food and Drug Administration's at http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/ocd/tamponsabs.html See the super Rely tampon, two sections of its instructions, and an ad for Rely from 1980 And see some other tampons Procter & Gamble sold around the time of Rely and also early commercial tampons
See also the booklets How shall I tell my daughter? (Modess, various dates), Growing up and liking it (Modess, various dates), and Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1928).
And read Lynn Peril's series about these and similar booklets!
See more Kotex items: First ad (1921) - ad 1928 (Sears and Roebuck catalog) - Lee Miller ads (first real person in amenstrual hygiene ad, 1928) - Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (booklet for girls, 1928, Australian edition; there are many links here to Kotex items) - Preparing for Womanhood (1920s, booklet for girls; Australian edition) - 1920s booklet in Spanish showing disposal method - box from about 1969 - "Are you in the know?" ads (Kotex) (1949)(1953)(1964)(booklet, 1956) - See more ads on the Ads for Teenagers main page
CONTRIBUTE to Humor, Words and expressions about menstruation and Would you stop menstruating if you could?
Some MUM site links:
homepageMUM 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.

Trust menstrual tampon, U.S.A., 1974
Procter & Gamble, distributors

Very bad luck killed Procter & Gamble's tampon business in 1980. That luck came from the even worse luck of many women who used its very absorbent Rely tampon and either died or suffered other consequences from toxic shock syndrome, an illness that starts not only in the vagina but elsewhere and in men. (See and read more about Rely. And read the letter P&G sent to stop distribution of the tampon, and some 1970s articles criticizing the tampon.)

You'll appreciate the irony in the name Rely. But about the same time, the mid-to-late 1970s, the company marketed another tampon with an inspiring name, Trust. P&G's bad luck continued with the name of this second tampon, a name destined for mockery, although I don't know of any illness associated with it, but P&G pulled out of the tampon business. It re-entered when it bought the premier name in tampons, in 1997, Tampax. It couldn't go wrong with a tampon tested since the early 1930s. Not that toxic shock cannot occur in any tampon, although it's very unlikely. And some women are more susceptible than others, which a test can determine.

Trust seems to consist of cotton, not the artificial fibers in Rely; the box and directions list no ingredients.

I thank Tambrands, which donated this box in 1997 as well as about 1000 other items from its archives to this museum. Tampax, which Tambrands made, is now part of Procter & Gamble.
See the super Rely tampon, two sections of its instructions , and an ad for Rely from 1980.

Below: The box measures 3.25 x 5.5 x 1.125" (8 x 14 x 3 cm). Someone at Tambrands wrote on the box. The other side lacks "Distributed by . . . ."
Below: Ten tampons cost $0.39.

Next: the Trust tampon and directions
See the super Rely tampon, two sections of its instructions , and an ad for Rely from 1980.
Read also the important following articles (issues listed) in the Rochester (New York)
Patriot
newspaper, which investigated Rely in 1975 and 1976, years before the toxic shock crisis.
Directory of tampons on this site.

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