Lysol in the newspapers, 1891 -
1924, U.S.A.:
For killing
insects and yourself, cleaning
floors, douching, contraception (in ads linked at
the bottom)
Lysol appeared first in Europe, a
product of the new coal-tar
derivatives developed at the end of
the 19th century. As you'll see below,
people used it for many things but no
longer; the company stopped
advertising it to disinfect vaginas as
practiced, for example, by a 89-year-old
Canadian
woman (scroll down) who started
douching with Lysol at 17 (in an
e-mail in the February 2005 MUM News).
In 1775, coal tar was the first
substance identified as causing
cancer. (See more
patent
medicines, some with coal tar
derivatives, and see more douche
liquids in the links to the left
[scroll down]).
Women also used Lysol as a
birth-control device, douching with it
to kill sperm. Andrea Tone, in Devices &
Desires (2001, Hill &
Wang), writes of the vaginas that the
liquid burned, as does the book Facts and Frauds in
Woman's Hygiene, from 1936,here .
A retired teacher generously sent
these scans as well as many others.
Thanks!
Above:
from Sandusky [Ohio] Daily Register,
May 28, 1891.
Below:
from The Herald and Torch Light,
Hagerstown, Maryland, April 11, 1895
Below
left: from Oakland
[California] Tribune, June 14, 1904. Right: from
Oakland [California] Tribune, July 6,
1906
And on a brighter
note, below:
the song "Yes,
We Have No Bananas" has new
lyrics, incorporating popular patent
medicines and herbs (from The Bee,
Danville, Virginia, February 8, 1924).
Druggist's Parody On
"Bananas."
There's a druggist in every
town
With a pretty store
When a customer comes around,
He sees everything galore:
Yet most everything he wants,
This man's always out,
Sadly through his shelves
he'll jaunt,
Then you'll hear him shout.
Chorus.
Yes, We have no Castoria,
We have no more Tanlac today.
There's Pluto, Ungentine and
Ex
Lax
And Lysol and Lydia
Pinkham's
too.
We've got some old-fashioned
sena,
Catnip and henna, but
Yes, We have no more Swamp
Root,
We have no Peruna today.
Below:
prices of Lysol and other cleaners and
bug killers from The Daily Review,
Decatur, Illinois, May 6, 1914
Below:
prices of Lysol and similar material,
from The Atlanta [Georgia]
Constitution, July 3, 1904