Pursettes tampon panty, 1968 (U.S.A.)
Bags from around the world for disposing of used pads
Belts for menstrual pads
Dispensers for menstrual pads
Panties (underpants) for holding menstrual pads
Powder for menstrual pads: Amolin,
Quest
Sanitary apron, U.S.A., 1914 Sears, Roebuck
catalog. MUM director Harry Finley commissioed Dr. Ann Wass to reconstruct
it for the physical museum.
Suspenders for pads
Pad, towel, napkin directory
Booklets menstrual hygiene companies made for
girls, women and teachers - patent medicine -
a list of books and articles about menstruation
- videos
 
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Sanshe's Sanitary Shields for sanitary [menstrual]
napkins, U.S.A., 1940s-1950s?
Menstruation, period, stains, clothing, underpants, protection, hygiene,
belts, pad directory
Women have always had to contend with menstrual leakage - well, maybe
not those who used nothing to absorb the blood
as did some in Europe and undoubtedly elsewhere.
This shield helped prevent accidents in the era of large pads, probably
decades before adhesive pads and the thinner
ones of today.
See various underpants and panties (and
sanitary napkin belts), 1946-47 (page from Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog,
U.S.A.)
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Below: Thin plastic
encloses the paper envelope that encases the shield.
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Below: The front
of the folded (once) paper that encloses the shield. It measures
4 1/8 x 11" (10.5 x 27.9 cm).
The woman's hairdo looks 1940s to me as does the sprayed-on blouse or sweater,
assuming she's wearing anything at all above her waist.
But there are white lines showing sleeves.
The odd mark above Sanshe, more apparent
on the back page (at right), turns out to be (probably) an apostrophe,
which would be correct - see proof.
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Below: The back of the folder.
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Below: See if you can determine the date
of the shield by looking at these drawings
for clothing style. My guess is the late 1940s,
early 1950s.
A splotch of printing ink (?) covers part
of the bedtime drawing.
Sanshe's shield furthered women even more than Tampax's ability to
enable women to perform ballet, swim, etc.: women
could FLY using
their arms as wings! Boy, just let a MAN try that! Hold on, maybe
she's diving into water.
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© 2009 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
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