Compare the American "Modess, because . . ." ads, a French Modess ad, a French ad featuring just a man!, and ads for teens.
See the box for the French version of this tampon

See 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: 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.

• http://point.lycos.com/categories/

• http://womenshealth.miningco.com/mbody.htm

• director.htm

Ad for Freedom menstrual tampons, sanitary napkins and panty pads, 1990, Germany, from Kotex

Germans saw this effervescent, and nude - that's body paint - woman laughing for Freedom menstrual pads, tampons and panty pads in a 1990 issue of the German magazine Girl! (yes, Girl!), a mainstream magazine for German teenage girls, and also in mainstream magazines for women, such as Freundin ("Girlfriend"). Like the French, Germans accept nudity both in life and in print, and elsewhere, with less fuss than Americans - much less fuss.

The words at lower right say, "Menstrual hygiene that's fun [!] ," which may be pushing the issue ("Monatshygiene, die Spaß macht" in German).

Kimberly-Clark, the American company that makes Kotex menstrual pads and tampons, sells Freedom in Germany and also a brand in France, which at this time also had models looking as if they were really enjoying themselves during menstruation, not like those crabby Americans! It's probable that the colorful packaging is meant to disguise the merchandise, though, rather than show any pleasure in periods.

Many younger, hip Germans know English words like "girl" and "freedom," and there is actually a German magazine for teenage girls called Mädchen, which means "girl." Go figure. English has a foot in pop culture around the world.

See the box for this tampon. See a similar German ad, also from Girl! in 1990. See a plastic shopping bag with a menstrual pad ad on it - German, of course.

See the box for the French version of this tampon. See a similar German ad, also from Girl! in
1990 and funny versions from England.
Compare the American "Modess, because . . ." ads, a French Modess ad, and a French ad featuring just a man!

See more ads for menarche-education booklets: Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday (Kotex, 1933), Tampax tampons (1970, with Susan Dey), Personal Products (1955, with Carol Lynley), and German o.b. tampons (lower ad, 1981)
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 another ad for As One Girl to Another (1942), and the booklet itself.

© 1999 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