Advertising,
nonmenstrual |
Ice Fresh breath
freshener (United Kingdom, June 1987,
Company magazine)
Lucky Strike
cigarettes (U.S.A., 1933, magazine unknown)
Old Dutch Cleanser
(U.S.A., 1933, magazine unknown)
|
Comic strips |
"Sylvia" (by
Nicole Hollander), about
this museum (5 August 1995)
"Frauen gemeinsam,"
(Common to women), about menstrual
sychronization, Germany, Brigitte magazine,
1992
"Single," the
Netherlands, 31 October 2005,
by Hanco Kolk and Peter de Wit
|
Contraception,
birth control & STD (sexually transmitted
diseases) treatment |
Abortion
through the mail: Four
1933 American ads for
(illegal) birth control
A short history
of contraception and religion - Egyptian
hieroglyphics from
about 1550 B.C.E. describing a
tampon used for contraception -
Australian douche ads (about 1900)in the "Wife's Guide and Friend": The Australian
government prosecuted this publication for
being obscene because it advertised
contraceptives and contained birth control
information -
Fresca douche powder
(early 20th century, U.S.A.); the label
contains language possibly hinting at
contraceptive use -
Selections from the first American edition
of Married Love
(first published 1918), Dr. Marie Stopes'
book that was long banned in America. Dr.
Stopes founded the first birth-control
clinic in the British Empire, in 1921, and
it's still running.
See also early
contraceptive sponges disguised for other uses.
Ad for Ergoapiol, treatment for painful or
missing menstrual periods or other
irregularities of the menstrual cycle - or
for abortion, 1904.
Patent medicine at this museum.
Enovid
(U.S.A.) birth-control pill package &
directions (1964) with booklet Planning Your Family
(also 1964) addressed to married women, not
single.
Pro-Fo Lactic
(U.S.A., 1930-40s?) Either a contraceptive
or treatment for STDs (sexually transmitted
diseases), or both. Ointment with a bag to
contain penis.
Control
of Conception: An Illustrated Manual
(excerpt)
Medical Aspects of Human Fertility Series
Issued by the
National Committee on Maternal Health, Inc.
(which Dr. Dickinson helped found)
Book by Robert Latou Dickinson, M.D. &
Louise Stevens Bryant, 1931/32, U.S.A.
|
Disposal
bags for menstrual pads |
Bags from around the world |
Exhibits about
menstruation |
"Appears Monthly"
("Verschijnt maandeliks"), newspaper
article about & one-page announcement of
Dutch exhibit, 1982, with English
translations
Longer tour of the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health in Harry Finley's suburban Washington, D.C. house, 1994-98. Photos, some people who visited, the lead-in to plans for the museum's future
Different, shorter tour of Museum of
Menstruation in Harry Finley's
house (that's me), 1994-1998, in a suburb of
Washington, D.C. Photos, why I closed it, etc.
Norwegian exhibit
about menstruation & the company history
of the Scandinavian tampon and menstrual pad
company SCA Mølnlycke, 1994
|
Festival,
menstruation, 1988, Germany |
One-sheet announcement in
German with English translation. Possibly a
commercial undertaking (for a dance teacher) |
Food |
PMS Crunch snack |
Hysteria |
Lydia Pinkham's Private
Text-Book Upon Ailments Peculiar to
Women |
Magazines, nonmenstrual
topics |
Love Mirror
cover (U.S.A.,1932)
The American Girl
(the Girl Scout magazine) joke page (June
1936) showing ethnic
jokes about Swedes, Irishmen and blacks
|
Masturbation, male
and female |
Results of and warning about: The Science of a New
Life, by John Cowan, M. D., 1875
(U.S.A) - Plain Facts
for Old and Young: Embracing the Natural
History and Hygiene of Organic Life,
by J. H. Kellogg, M. D., 1892 (U.S.A.) - Dr.
R. V. Pierce's "Spermatorrhea"
section of The
People's Common Sense Medical Adviser
(63rd edition, 1895, U.S.A.) - also in The Sexual System and
Its Derangements, by Dr. E. C. Abbey,
1882 (U.S.A.) - Sexology,
by Prof. William H. Walling, A.M., M.D.
(1912, Puritan Publishing Company,
Philadelphia) - Gynecology,
by Howard A. Kelly, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Rachel Maines wrote a book about doctors'
masturbating their patients, male and
female, as a treatment, in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries, and the long
history of midwives masturbating their
patients, etc.: The Technology of Orgasm:
"Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's
Sexual Satisfaction (Johns Hopkins
Press, 1999, U.S.A.)
Was famous patent medicine doctor Dr. Pierce, an
opponent of masturbation (common in America
& elsewhere), a hypocrite
about the subject?
|
Menarche (first
menstruation) |
Age in different
cultures |
Menotoxin the
alleged poison associated with menstruation |
A short history
|
|
|
Mikvah ritual
bath after menstruation for Orthodox Jews |
18th century engraving
1260,
Friedberg, Germany, plan (1902)
|
Menstrual wave |
An apt 19th and early 20th
century description of
the effect of hormones on a woman's body
during the menstrual cycle. |
Myths |
from "Magic and
Medicine in Menstruation," 1934, booklet
from Schering Corp. |
Newspapers |
Rochester (New York,
U.S.A.) Patriot,
articles from 1975-76 aggressively investigating the
just-introduced Rely tampon, which
was later (1979-80) associated with toxic
shock syndrome (TSS) |
Rectal dilators
|
Dr. Young's
Improved Rectal Dilators for the Auxiliary
Treatment of Piles and Constipation
(U.S.A., 1900?-1940?) |
Sex manuals |
Married Love, by
Dr. Marie Stopes (1931, first American
edition, Putnam's Sons, New York)
Sex Facts for Women,
by Richard J. Lambert, Ph.G. [sic?], M.D.
(1936, Padell Book Company, New York, New
York)
|
Slapping a
daughter when she first menstruates, in
Jewish tradition
(La Tradición [Judía] de Abofetear a Nuestras
Hijas) |
The Tradition of
Slapping Our Daughters, by Caren
Appel-Slingbaum (Leer la versión en español traducido por María
García)
Questionnaire
for you about slapping, by Lana Thompson
|
The Society for
Menstrual Cycle Research conference (1997) |
See some stars of menstruation!! |
Suspenders to
hold pads (here are belts) |
19th
century U.S.A.: three patents and ad for
Mrs. Smith's Universal Bandage Suspender |
Tampon case carrier |
Vinnie's (1999,
U.S.A.)
Pursettes
(1960s? U.S.A.)
|
Wax teaching corpse
of woman |
probably 18th century Italian
(not in this museum) |
What did women do
about menstruation in the past? |
In 19th
century Europe and America (and maybe
before) |