Read 1930s criticism of Zonite and Lysol.
See also Australian douche ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca douche powder (U.S.A.) (date ?) - Kotique douche liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.) - Liasan (1) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Liasan (2) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Lysol douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Midol menstrual pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol booklet (selections), 1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Myzone menstrual pain pills ad, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Vionell genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Zero-Gel Vaginal Cream magazine ad (U.S.A., 1932) -
The Perils of Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor 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 | Religi�n y menstruaci�n | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | Seguridad de productos para la menstruaci�n | 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 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.

 
See the former brick-and-mortar Museum of Menstruation

Zonite advertisement
Good Housekeeping magazine, February, 1932,

AAAH! Keep that breeze coming! Lift your eyes to the sky, away from that unsterilized vagina!

A squirt of Zonite will do! Well, give it two squirts.

Zonite was an American douche liquid produced for decades. It probably at least irritated many women, besides destroying normal bacteria - and sperm - in the vagina, just as many douche products did, ironically creating the conditions for disease rather than eliminating them. Read why you shouldn't douche.

Zonite was Dakin's solution (sodium hypochlorite), essentially weak bleach (see comments here). Chlorinated drinking water using sodium hypochlorite started in the United States in 1908 in Jersey City, New Jersey, and within the next couple of decades had helped (with filtration) almost eliminate cholera and typhoid fever in America. Companies sell weak bleach solutions with fancy names for horrendous prices to clean showers and bath tubs. I bought them before I read the ingredient list.

Read the address on the order blank, bottom right: just a few years before this ad appeared the Chrysler Building was the tallest building in the world, but when this ad appeared it was just the tallest brick building in the world (and with a steel skeleton) and it still is.

The Zonite booklet advertised at top and bottom surely repeats the "facts" in the ad text. But a Kotex booklet from the following year whose title also contains the word Facts does indeed seem to be at least mostly factual, even discouraging women from douching.

Compare the later Australian menstrual pain pill Myzone, which also "zones" off the woman's body from the rest of the world.

Read 1930s criticism of douching with Zonite and Lysol.
See a magazine ad from September 1928 and newspaper ads from 1914 and 1916.
I thank a genealogy researcher for these ads!

Below: The ad is 11 3/4" tall (29.8 cm)), the width being uncertain because of trimming.

See Zonite newspaper ads, from 1914 and 1916.

NEXT: Zero-Gel Vaginal Cream magazine ad (U.S.A., 1932) - See a Zonite magazine ad from September 1928.

� 2015 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work on this Web site in any manner or medium without written permission of the author. Please report suspected violations to [email protected]
See also Australian douche ad (ca. 1900) - Fresca douche powder (U.S.A.) (date ?) - Kotique douche liquid ad, 1974 (U.S.A.) - Liasan (1) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Liasan (2) genital wash ad, 1980s (Germany) - Lysol douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) - Marvel douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Midol menstrual pain pill ad, 1938 (U.S.A.) - Midol booklet (selections), 1959 (U.S.A.) - Mum deodorant cream ad, 1926 (U.S.A.) - Myzone menstrual pain pills ad, 1952 (Australia) - Pristeen genital spray ad, 1969 (U.S.A.) - Spalt pain tablets, 1936 (Germany) - Vionell genital spray ad, 1970, with Cheryl Tiegs (Germany) - Zonite douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.)
The Perils of Vaginal Douching (essay by Luci Capo Rome) - the odor page