Read 1930s criticism
of Zonite and Lysol.
See also Australian douche ad
(ca. 1900) - Fresca
douche powder (U.S.A.) (date ?) - Kotique douche liquid
ad, 1974 (U.S.A.) - Liasan
(1) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Liasan (2) genital wash
ad, 1980s (Germany) - Lysol
douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol douche liquid ad,
1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel
douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Midol menstrual pain
pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol
booklet (selections), 1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad,
1926 (U.S.A.) - Myzone
menstrual pain pills ad, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital spray
ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt
pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Vionell genital spray ad,
1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche liquid ad,
1928 (U.S.A.) - Zero-Gel Vaginal Cream magazine
ad (U.S.A., 1932) -
The Perils of Vaginal
Douching (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page
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See the former brick-and-mortar
Museum of Menstruation
Zonite advertisement
Good
Housekeeping magazine,
February, 1932,
AAAH! Keep that breeze
coming! Lift your eyes to the sky, away
from that unsterilized vagina!
A squirt of Zonite will do! Well,
give it two squirts.
Zonite
was an American douche liquid produced
for decades. It probably at least
irritated many women, besides
destroying normal bacteria - and sperm
- in the vagina, just as many douche
products did, ironically creating the
conditions for disease rather than
eliminating them. Read why you shouldn't douche.
Zonite was Dakin's solution (sodium
hypochlorite), essentially weak bleach
(see comments
here). Chlorinated drinking
water using sodium hypochlorite
started in the United States in 1908
in Jersey City, New Jersey, and within
the next couple of decades had helped
(with filtration) almost eliminate
cholera and typhoid fever in America.
Companies sell weak bleach solutions
with fancy names for horrendous prices
to clean showers and bath tubs. I
bought them before I read the
ingredient list.
Read the address on the order blank,
bottom right: just a few
years before this ad
appeared the Chrysler
Building was the tallest
building in the world, but
when this ad appeared it was just
the tallest brick building in the
world (and with a steel skeleton)
and it still is.
The Zonite booklet advertised at
top and bottom surely
repeats the "facts" in the ad text.
But a Kotex
booklet from the following
year whose title also contains the
word Facts does indeed seem to be at
least mostly factual, even discouraging women
from douching.
Compare the later Australian
menstrual pain pill Myzone, which
also "zones"
off the woman's body from the
rest of the world.
Read 1930s criticism
of douching with Zonite and Lysol.
I thank a
genealogy researcher for these
ads!
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Below:
The ad is 11 3/4" tall (29.8 cm)), the
width being uncertain because of trimming.
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See Zonite newspaper ads,
from 1914 and
1916.
NEXT:
Zero-Gel Vaginal Cream magazine ad
(U.S.A., 1932) - See a Zonite
magazine ad from September 1928.
© 2015 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
See also
Australian
douche ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca douche
powder (U.S.A.) (date ?) - Kotique
douche liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.) - Liasan (1)
genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Liasan (2)
genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Lysol douche
liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol douche
liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel douche
liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Midol
menstrual pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.)
- Midol
booklet (selections), 1959
(U.S.A.) - Mum
deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Myzone
menstrual pain pills ad, 1952
(Australia) - Pristeen
genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain
tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Vionell genital
spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs
(Germany) - Zonite
douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
The Perils of
Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci
Capo Rome) - the odor
page
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