Tampons

Tampax brand tampons really were the first commercial tampons. But did you know they were sold in the 1930's? I didn't know that. I thought they were an invention of the 70's. I guess I confused the first time I heard about them with the first time they existed. A mistake not uncommon among teenagers.

But no, really. I don't remember my mother ever telling me about them and that they were an option. No, she told me about HUGE pads and these complicated belt things - the equivalent of a garter belt for your sanitary pad - and said "this is what you do every month." If she said anything else, I totally don't remember it.

I think the self-stick pads really did get invented after my one and only product talk with my mother, but tampons clearly exsited both before and after that time. I just didn't know it. Probably part of my confusion has to do with the fact that television commercials for tampons actually DID begin in the 70's. Remember everyone politely and not at all discreetly suddenly having reasons to turn away from the TV and studiouly not notice the tampon commercial when the family was sitting around the TV in the evening (for that matter, remember the family all sitting around one TV in the evening? Now that's a flashback to a time that no longer exists, at least, not without a laptop computer on every lap in the room).