Women have tampons since ancient times, improvising devices from a variety of materials. The first commercially-produced tampons arrived on the scene in the early 1900s and the first tampon with an applicator, Tampax, was introduced in 1936. Some additional options have been introduced since that time, but the basic tampon remains the same.
History
The oldest medical document on record refers to the use of disposable tampons created from softened papyrus by Egyptian women in the fifteenth century B.C. Ancient Greeks crafted tampons that used lint wrapped around a small piece of wood. The Tampax website states that other ancient women around the world used tampons as well, made from wool, rolled grass, paper, or ferns. There is also general knowledge that women in Europe and the United States had been using improvised tampons for many years before commercial ones were available, making them from strips of cotton wrapped tightly.
Time Frame
Commercial pads had been produced by the late 1800s, but did not really take off until Kimberly-Clark released the Kotex brand around 1920. Even then, it took several years for the idea to catch on, apparently because of the general embarrassment in regard to menstruation at the time. Magazines would not carry advertising for the product and many stores refused to sell it. Women were nervous about anybody seeing them purchase such an item. The change came in 1926 when Montgomery Ward listed the product in its catalog, and soon afterward, women began purchasing sanitary napkins by the millions.
Types
Tampons without applicators were being sold in the 1920s. A tampon with the brand name Fax was probably the first and was marketed as an internal sanitary napkin. This tampon was covered in a gauze layer which served as the way to remove the tampon. Other tampons, such as Moderne Woman, had strings.
Identification
Earle Haas, a physician, invented the tampon with a telescope-like cardboard applicator in 1929, and filed for the patent in 1931. Haas called his invention a catamenial device, from the Greek word for monthly. He named the brand Tampax. Gertrude Tendrich later bought the patent and trademark rights and founded the Tampax company to do large-scale production. Tampax made its first sale in 1936.
Considerations
Since then, commercially-produced tampons have evolved to a degree, although the basic shape is still the same and they have always been made of cotton or rayon fibers. Plastic applicators and deodorant tampons were introduced in the 1970s. The o.b. brand tampon, without an applicator, was sold in Europe since the 1950s and was introduced to the United States in the 1970s. To date, over 95 percent of European women still prefer the tampon without an applicator, while less than 5 percent of American women do.
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