Similar Irving Nurick ads for teens: 1942, 1943, 1944, World War II era, Great booklet (1956), 1948, 1949, 1949, 1950s, 1952, 1953, 1964
See also Ads for Teens

Booklets menstrual hygiene companies made for girls, women and teachers - patent medicine - a list of books and articles about menstruation
Many more PADS, BOOKLETS - See TAMPONS, MENSTRUAL BELTS, CUPS, SPONGES, UNDERPANTS
HOMEPAGE
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? |
Email the museum |
Privacy on this site |
Who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! |
Art of menstruation (and awesome ancient art of menstruation) |
Artists (non-menstrual) |
Asbestos |
Belts |
Bidets |
Birth control and religion |
Birth control drugs, old |
Birth control douche & sponges |
Founder bio |
Bly, Nellie |
MUM board |
Books: menstruation & menopause (& reviews) |
Cats |
Company booklets for girls (mostly) directory |
Contraception and religion |
Contraceptive drugs, old |
Contraceptive douche & sponges |
Costumes |
Menstrual cups |
Cup usage |
Dispensers |
Douches, pain, sprays |
Essay directory |
Examination, gynecological (pelvic) (short history) |
Extraction |
Facts-of-life booklets for girls |
Famous women in menstrual hygiene ads |
FAQ |
Feminine napkin, towel, pad directory |
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, towel, napkin directory |
Patent medicine |
Poetry directory |
Products, some current |
Puberty booklets for girls and parents|
Religion |
Religi�n y menstruaci�n |
Your remedies for menstrual discomfort |
Menstrual products safety |
Sanitary napkin, towel, pad directory |
Seguridad de productos para la menstruaci�n |
Science |
Shame |
Slapping, menstrual |
Sponges |
Synchrony |
Tampon directory |
Early tampons |
Teen ads directory |
Tour of the former museum (video) |
Towel, pad, sanitary napkin directory |
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 |
Read 10 years (1996-2006) of articles and Letters to Your MUM on this site.
Leer la versi�n en espa�ol de los siguientes temas: Anticoncepci�n y religi�n, Breve rese�a - Olor - Religi�n y menstruaci�n - Seguridad de productos para la menstruaci�n.

"Why was I born a Woman?"
Ad for Kotex menstrual pads, September 1941, in
Woman's Home Companion magazine, U.S.A

I can't answer big questions like the title of this ad, a cri de coeur. Writers send similar questions in sometimes stronger language to this site's Would you stop menstruating if you could? page. I know some of you feel that way.

But I can answer small questions!

I want you to study the ad below and the enlargements on the next page. The great Irving Nurick (more about him) painted it in the American tradition of realism he demonstrated in many ads for Kotex and other companies (see more examples in the left column and below the ad).

OK, start studying! Then go to the next page.

Oh, just a few months after this ad appeared the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and the U.S. declared war on Japan and Germany, which had been blasting England, preparing it for its invasion. Nurick showed men in uniform during the war.

See "As One Girl To Another," advertised at the bottom right.

The manufacturer probably gave decks of cards to dealers to nudge them into selling Modess pads in the 1960s.

I thank the generous donor, who has contributed many items since the start of MUM, in 1994!


Kotex ad,
                                1941
NEXT | interesting details
Similar Irving Nurick ads for teens: 1942, 1943, 1944, World War II era, Great booklet (1956), 1948, 1949, 1949, 1950s, 1952, 1953, 1964
See also Ads for Teens
Many more
BOOKLETS - See TAMPONS, MENSTRUAL BELTS, PADS, CUPS, SPONGES, UNDERPANTS

� 2010 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 [email protected]