Let's start with the fact that menstruation in ancient times and now are slightly different phenomena. First of all, because a stable cycle was more of a rarity than the norm. Poor nutrition and lack of vitamins led to hormonal imbalance, and this, in turn, led to a violation menstrual cycle. Menstruation could stop altogether if the woman was severely emaciated.
Tampons and Ancient Egypt
Very often on the Internet you can find a statement that tampons were known to the ancient Egyptians. Hippocrates, the "father of medicine", is also mentioned in this context, who allegedly mentioned small wooden sticks wrapped in soft linen that women inserted into the vagina.
Dr. Helen King, who has devoted many years to studying menstruation historically, claims that the original Hippocratic quote has never been found and the myth has been widely used in advertising campaigns. famous brands— manufacturers of personal care products for women.
Popular
The same goes for claims about tampons in ancient Egypt and Greece. But there is evidence that the Romans attached subligaculum - absorbent cotton pads - to underwear.
Middle Ages
If you very briefly answer the question of what women did during menstruation until the 19th century, then the answer would be: nothing. Most of the Europeans did not wear underwear, so there was nowhere to fasten the fabric.
However, there were also exceptions. An alternative "for the rich" method was rag pads, which were fastened between the legs with a special belt that was fastened around the waist. For example, we know that Elizabeth I, Queen of England, owned three black silk sashes.
The "civilized" approach to their hygiene also included pieces of tissue that were thrust into the vagina to stop the bleeding. But most women just let the blood flow out of them. naturally. This, apparently, according to the records, did not surprise anyone.
Laura Klosterman Kidd, an expert on the subject, studied 17 women's diaries and letters with recommendations on what to pack on a trip. She did not meet a single mention of objects that could somehow make life easier for a woman during this period.
1800
Nothing changed. A German doctor wrote in 1899: "It is absolutely disgusting to bleed on your shirt and then wear it for four to eight days, it can easily lead to infections."
Yes, some women did use "menstrual tissues", but most women could not afford such an expensive pleasure.
At the same time, women "these days", for example, were forbidden to work in factories, especially food ones - it was believed that they could "poison" products.
1900
Linen was securely attached to the so-called hygienic belt. The first advertisement showing disposable napkins appeared in the USA in 1888. Up to this point, any advertisement that touches on the topic of menstruation was considered taboo.
The product did not attract consumers and was discontinued.
1920
The women also used a hygienic belt, but this time they settled for disposable pads. World War I nurses discovered the absorbent properties of special medical paper - they used it to absorb blood from open wounds, but they were also quite suitable for menstrual blood.
Inspired by this idea, Kimberly Clark invented Kotex, the first disposable menstrual wipes.
1930
The first tampons with a cardboard applicator appear. In 1934, Tampax introduced its product to the market. It was recommended for use only by married women, because it was widely believed that tampons were only suitable for women who had already lost their virginity.
1940
War, women have to move a lot, there is no time for hitches. This is how the first tampon without an applicator appears. Between 1936 and 1943, tampon consumption increased fivefold.
1950
Time ago. And again a hygienic belt, but not a word about menstruation. Women should be silent about this uncomfortable period of their lives. But menstruation should not serve as an excuse for refusing homework.
1960
Washable rag pads. The time of the struggle for women's rights has changed almost nothing in relation to menstruation.
Articles about the female organism.
Very interesting article.
Essay on menstrual hygiene. And so much more to learn.
“The vulva is not ideal for menstruation, as evidenced by the fact that over its centuries-old history, mankind has not come up with an impeccable hygienic option for women.
Let's briefly review the history menstrual hygiene. For centuries there have been the most various options hygiene. One of the oldest methods is the seclusion (i.e. isolation) of menstruating women from society. It was quite common in Polynesia and among African tribes. Each settlement had a special menstruating hut, in which women were supposed to stay during menstruation. Why was this done? In short, the essence is to isolate menstruating women in order to ensure their greatest safety. However, was this the only goal? Here is a quote from one historian: “... since the clothes of women of that time did not completely hide their condition, such a woman would become the subject of ridicule for others, if even the slightest trace of her illness was noticed on her, she would lose the favor of her husband or lover. Thus, we see that natural modesty has as its basis solely the consciousness of one's own shortcomings and the fear of being disliked. So, the lack of elementary hygiene products in ancient times forced a woman to isolate during menstruation. The appearance of menstrual hygiene products made seclusion optional, but it became necessary to develop hygiene products, the main task of which was both to ensure the absorption of secretions and to hide the condition of the woman from others.
In ancient Egypt, papyrus was used, from which rich Egyptian women made tampons. Papyrus was very expensive, so ordinary Egyptians used linen, which was washed after use. In Byzantium, tampons made of papyrus or similar material were also used. Such tampons were hardly comfortable, since papyrus is very cruel.
In ancient Rome, cloth was used for pads, and sometimes tampons made from wool balls. There is evidence of the use of tampons in ancient Greece and Judea. But, apparently, the most common means of hygiene in ancient times were reusable pads made of one or another material such as canvas, fabric, silk, felt, etc.
In medieval Japan, China, India, feminine hygiene was very high, many orders of magnitude better than in Europe. It was in Asia that disposable pads first appeared. Asian women used disposable paper napkins folded in an envelope. Such an envelope was held by a handkerchief attached to the belt. Later in Japan they began to make menstrual belts (if the author is not mistaken, they are called "You"), which was a belt with a strip passed between the legs. A napkin was placed between the strip and the vulva: the belt was reusable, the napkin was disposable. Outwardly, such a belt somewhat resembled an inverted basket. Every intelligent Japanese woman should have been able to make such a belt for herself.
In Polynesia, specially prepared plant bark, grass, sometimes animal skins and sea sponges were used. Approximately the same, apparently, did the Indian women of North America.
In Europe during the Middle Ages, feminine hygiene was at its lowest level. Commoners, for example, simply used the floors of shirts or petticoats tucked between their legs. In Russia in the XVII-XVIII centuries, the so-called. "shameful ports", that is, something like tight pantaloons or long underpants (normal underpants were not worn then) made of thick material - menstrual flow was absorbed directly by the ports, which were under the extensive skirts.
It should be noted that in the Middle Ages, menstruation was a rare "guest" for European women. Menstruation then began at the age of 16-18 years, stopped at the age of about 40-45 years. Since contraceptives were not available, many women were almost constantly pregnant or lactating (menstruation is usually absent during breastfeeding). Thus, many women in their entire lives could have only 10-20 menstruations, that is, as much as a modern woman has on average in a year or two. It is clear that the issues of menstrual hygiene did not then confront European women as acutely as they do now. However, by the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the problem of menstrual hygiene was already extremely acute for American and European women.
In America and Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reusable home-made pads made of felt or canvas were used, which, after use, were folded into a bag, then washed and reused. Some adopted the Chinese method using paper envelopes. In cases where it was impossible to carry a used gasket with them or it seemed impractical to save a gasket, women burned it in a fireplace. The custom of burning gaskets in the fireplace did not arise by chance. The fact is that the toilet became widespread only at the end of the 19th century (although it appeared two centuries earlier). Before the advent of the toilet in England (and in many European countries as well), women peed in pots while closing themselves in a bedroom or other room; after urination or defecation, the pots were taken out by the servants or by the woman herself. Therefore, the change of menstrual hygiene products was also carried out in the rooms, since there were simply no special toilet facilities then. Note that in those days, almost any living space was equipped with a fireplace. Therefore, it was easier to burn the gasket in the fireplace than to take it to the trash. This was especially true when a woman traveled - in this case, apparently, it was easier to donate a reusable pad than to carry it with you for a long time. For this purpose, a fireplace was used. At the end of the 19th century in England there were even special portable crucibles for burning gaskets - in those cases when there was no fireplace at hand!
The habit of wrapping used pads in paper or newspaper and throwing them in the trash didn't start until the 1970s. XX century with the widespread use of disposable pads - before that, as we see, either saving pads for subsequent washing, or burning or throwing them away was used. However, reusable pads were inconvenient for women, not only because of the unpleasant washing (which the maids did for the rich), but also because of the need to collect used pads during menstruation.
For additional protection, aprons were worn in the manner underwear, i.e. they additionally protected the upper skirt from contamination. Quite a long time in the 10's - 30's. In the 20th century (or even longer) in America (and possibly in Europe) menstrual underpants were used, called briefs or bloomers (the origin of the names is unclear, they are not translated into Russian). Tampons, like disposable pads, were virtually unknown in America, Europe and Asia at that time.
Significant changes took place during the First World War. Then the French sisters of mercy in military hospitals noticed that the cellucotton material developed by the American company Kimberly Clark (something like cotton wool made from cellulose), widely supplied to Europe for military purposes, perfectly absorbs menstrual flow and began to use it, in fact having created in Europe the first home-made, but already disposable pads.
This discovery had a significant impact on the further development of menstrual hygiene, prompting the Kimberly Clark company to produce pads from this material. The first disposable pads, called "Cellunap" (Cellunap) were released in 1920, but their marketing in America proved to be extremely problematic. In principle, women were enthusiastic about the idea of disposable pads (this was shown by a thorough and very difficult sociological survey at that time), but it was obvious that women were very embarrassed about menstruation. Advertising or displaying pads was then unthinkable, women were embarrassed even to buy pads, which were then sold only in pharmacies; often mothers sent their little foolish daughters for pads. When buying, women were very embarrassed to even pronounce the name of the product, using only the last syllable, i.e. “nap”. Nap (nap) - in English means “napkin”, and this term has taken root quite widely - for many years the word nap, i.e. napkin, was used to refer to gaskets, although gaskets, of course, were not napkins. Soon, Cellunaps were renamed Kotex, but they were still sold in packages without inscriptions and drawings.
However, sociological surveys confirmed that only embarrassment at purchase prevents the wide distribution of new products - women really did not like reusable felt pads, but they were embarrassed to ask for “sanitary napkins” at the pharmacy. Times were very puritanical, especially in America.
Then manufacturing firms (such as Kotex, Fax and others) launched a wide campaign of very careful, but persistent and thoughtful advertising of hygiene products, the most important link of which were books for girls, which talked about puberty, menstruation and “unobtrusively” carried out the idea of the need to use the products of a particular company (the most famous such book is Marjorie May's 12th Birthday, which caused an explosion of indignation among old-fashioned moralists). The Disney company made an educational cartoon about menstruation for girls. Ads for panty liners appeared on the pages of women's magazines.
This policy led to fairly rapid success, by 1940 the share of felt reusable pads had decreased to 20%, and after the war, by the end of the 40s. - up to 1%, after which reusable pads are a thing of the past. However, only the sexual revolution of the 60s. finally removed many taboos, including the taboo on television and street advertising of funds feminine hygiene.
What were the first industrial gaskets like Kotex? Menstrual belts were used to wear "napkins". Euro-American belts differed from Japanese ones, which resembled an inverted basket in shape - they were a rather thin horizontal belt made of elastic, worn at the waist, from which two straps descended in front and behind, ending with metal clips (like clips for curtains). A pad was attached to these clamps, passed between the legs. The designs of the belts were somewhat different, but had the same basic scheme. The pads themselves were very long and thick, usually rectangular in shape, and covered the entire crotch. The absorption capacity of the pads was quite low, so sometimes two pads were attached to the belt at once. Changing the pad was not an easy task, after urinating women most likely always installed a new pad. This led to the fact that women preferred to endure as long as possible before going to the toilet, which adversely affected their health. If we consider that then they wore stockings, also attached to the girdle, then you can imagine how much time and effort the process of urinating a menstruating woman then took.
The pads were different, and the opinions of women about them vary greatly, so it is not easy to generalize. Apparently, these pads were soft and did not rub the vulva. On the other hand, they were difficult to install in the right position, they often went astray and leaked, even though they were somewhat thickened at the bottom. Therefore, women wore special tight underpants, sometimes with a waterproof layer in the crotch, which reduced leakage, but caused increased sweating of the vulva. Some shorts had special devices for additional fastening of the pad. If a menstruating woman was about to dance or dress in an expensive nice clothes, then for additional protection they also wore something else like a sash. These pads had to be changed several times a day.
Nevertheless, for Europe and America it was a huge step forward - from reusable to disposable hygiene products. Such belts were quite widespread until the end of the 60s, but later they gradually disappeared with the advent of pads with a sticky (adhesive) layer, which had a different wearing principle.
The first industrial tampons appeared in America in the late 1920s. (Fax, Fibs, Wix). They did not have applicators, sometimes even lanyards. The first tampon with an applicator (the famous Tampax) appeared in America in 1936 and began to spread gradually. The spread of tampons was greatly facilitated by Dickinson's famous report "Tampons as a menstrual protection", published in 1945 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. This report, to a certain extent, helped overcome women's mistrust of the very idea of a tampon. However, in the 20's - 50's. tampons for American and European women were still “exotic”, and tampons were widely used, apparently, only in the 70s.
Disposable pads of the current concept appeared around the end of the 60s. - thinner ones, which did not require belts to be worn, but were placed in panties or stockings. Note, however, that the very first such disposable pads Johnson & Johnson appeared back in 1890 (!) Year, Curads in 1920, but then they did not take root at all, because the women's society was simply not yet ready for the idea of disposable hygiene products.
In the 1960s, tampons with applicators became more and more common. different types- from pin to telescopic, as a rule, plastic. At the same time, advertisements for pads and tampons were widely deployed on television and in women's magazines.
Acceleration (thanks to which the age of the first menstruation has decreased from 16 to 12-13 years in just a few generations), an increase in the age of menopause (cessation of menstruation), the widespread development of contraceptives, a significant decrease in the number of children in a European and American family, the development of emancipation - all this led to an increase in the number of menstruations in women's lives and made the problem of hygiene much more urgent than before. The revitalization of women's lives also set new requirements - the speed of changing hygiene products, invisibility to others, availability for sale, reliability, ease of wearing, etc. All this could be provided only by disposable hygiene products of industrial production. Already in the 70s. the life of a civilized woman without factory-made tampons and pads has become unimaginable.
In the 80s, pads continued to improve, there was a protective bottom layer and a "dry" absorbent layer, wings; they began to use absorbent materials that turn blood into a gel; gaskets began to be made taking into account the structure of the female perineum (anatomical shape). Gaskets became more blood-intensive and at the same time thin, the range expanded - from the mighty "overnight" to the thinnest "every day". Tampons also developed - thus, tampons with telescopic applicators became more popular, which were more often made from cardboard (because, unlike plastic, cardboard dissolves easily in water and is therefore more preferable from an environmental point of view).
Around the same period, feminine hygiene products began to internationalize rapidly - brands such as Tampax, Ob, Kotex, Always, Libresse and others are distributed throughout the world and are rarely found only in poor countries (however, the richest ladies, even in the poorest countries, are increasingly use global brands). In some countries, their "national" brands are added to them. National stamps can be roughly divided into two categories. The first is cheaper compared to international models. In Poland, these are Bella pads, in Russia - Angelina, Veronica and others, including Polish ones. Such products, as a rule, are not as convenient as international ones. The second category is products that are more in line with national tastes and preferences than international ones. In France, these are, for example, Nana and Vania pads (supplied with a wrapper in which the pad can be wrapped after use), in Japan - tampons with longer and usually plastic applicators, supplied with plastic bags for wrapping used tampons, etc.
Note that there are certain national preferences in the choice of hygiene products. They are not always easy to explain, but often very well traced. So, Japanese women categorically do not accept the idea of inserting a finger into the vagina, so almost all Japanese tampons have applicators, and rare non-applicator brands are supplied with rubber fingertips! In general, Japanese women definitely prefer pads. Asians, Hispanics and Russians also prefer to use pads. American women definitely prefer tampons, in Western Europe the prevalence of tampons and pads is comparable. The author assumes (but does not have confirmation) that Muslim women use only pads, and homemade ones, since menstrual advertising is prohibited in Muslim countries.
In the USSR until the end of the 80s. industrial tampons did not exist at all, and industrial-made pads were extremely rare and occasionally sold in pharmacies under the name ... "hygienic product" - in a word, the situation in America of the 30s was reproduced with anecdotal accuracy. But each book for schoolgirls explained in detail how to make pads from cotton wool wrapped in gauze. This "know-how" was perfectly owned by all Soviet women.
The first Tampax tampons and pads appeared in the USSR in the early 90s. and caused a real sensation among women. The first advertisement for Tampax appeared in Burda magazine in 1989. The page showed a tampon with an applicator in front of a box. There was short text, the essence of which was that with Tampax tampons in the vaginas, Russian women would gain freedom and unprecedented comfort.
The author personally observed how female students literally froze when they opened the page with this advertisement and studied the contents of this advertisement for a long time, spellbound. The magazine passed from hand to hand until all the students had read this advertisement. An interesting psychological subtlety: usually the girls looked at the page in groups of two, often whispering to each other. Consequently, they were not embarrassed about menstruation among themselves, but when the guys appeared, they pretended to consider the styles of dresses. It should be noted that at the time of the appearance of this advertisement, there were no tampons or pads on sale yet, and girls could only use homemade pads. The idea of a tampon caused delight among the girls.
At first, hygiene products were expensive, there were many cheap, low-quality Eastern European crafts, so the spread of new hygiene products was rather slow. Rich ladies, friends of bandits, thieves and other "new Russians" were the first to menstruate into industrial products. However, the spread of world brands was hindered not only by the high price and general poverty, but also by a certain prejudice of Soviet women against industrial hygiene products (“why buy high when I myself can make a gasket much cheaper”). Foreign manufacturing firms were interested in the speedy distribution of their products on the Russian market. And then, as in post-war America, advertising was launched into battle, the purpose of which in our case was to convince Russian women that menstruating “the old fashioned way” in homemade pads is now simply unfashionable. It was necessary to break the stereotype and convince women, especially young women, that life without Koteks, Tampaks, Olveiz is simply impossible.
Everyone remembers the times when the country literally choked in advertising menstruation. This stream of advertising, very tactless, loud and intrusive, at first terribly embarrassed and shocked both women and men. There was even a movement “Against pad advertising and for girlish honor” (however, we note that pads have nothing to do with girlish honor, rather the opposite - the one that “observes honor” just definitely menstruates, unlike her “flying” girlfriends ). However, impudent and assertive advertising has done its job - the current generation of 15-25-year-old girls menstruates only in pads and tampons of industrial production and simply does not agree to any homemade products (although the secret of making homemade products is probably not lost in the Russian outback). In addition, the embarrassment of girls in this matter has decreased - if earlier girls did not talk about their menstruation in principle and were extremely embarrassed of any mention of it, now girls look at menstruation as a completely natural phenomenon - intimate, but in principle not shameful. That's what advertising can be thanked for."
Sometimes, in a completely unexpected way, we may be interested in the history of things - all the way from their origin to the current level of development. In this case, an entertaining, popular science service, which is called " History of things"and where you can learn a lot of curious facts about the objects of our usual environment ...
And I found this site when, together with a friend, I asked myself: "How before a woman solve hygiene problems during menstruation"?
Girls, you represent. How happy are we now, having in our everyday life an unlimited number and the widest range of pads and tampons for all occasions?
You see, recently a gynecologist forbade my friend to use tampons - he said that this particular option for maintaining hygiene is contraindicated for her. Of course, Irina obeyed her doctor, but this ban resulted in kitchen indignation from the realization of the impending inconvenience. Word for word, and suddenly, we became concerned about the problem of gaskets in "prehistoric times." We were really interested in how from this monthly difficult situation women went out earlier, including in the Middle Ages in Europe - when it was believed that washing was injurious to health, and even earlier, when a person was not very familiar with clothes ...
In general, we booted into the Internet, we did not find the details that we were interested in, but dug up some information about the gaskets. So I share.
- IN Polynesia and some African tribes they preferred to take the "easy" path and instead of inventing pads or tampons, women were simply "isolated" from the tribe for the period of menstruation. For this, special huts were built, where the woman stayed for the entire period of her "illness".
- The first means of hygiene during menstruation were not pads, but a kind of tampons.
Babylon- they built rolls from soft papyrus or more affordable, but also more rigid reeds.
Rome- they combed out and rolled the wool into balls, they also performed the function of modern tampons.
Japan- for such purposes, balls were rolled from thin sheets of paper, or paper was folded in the form of a gasket and a handkerchief was attached to the belt, which held the gasket in the intended place.
Europe- they built pads from fabric, fastened them to skirts as best they could, there were a lot of skirts, so blood stains were not noticeable with this approach, poor women instead of pads simply tucked the floors of petticoats and shirts between their legs.
Eskimos- laying of reindeer moss and small shavings of bark.
Rus- hay pads, which were adapted to the belt, since underwear was not worn before, or "shameless ports" - trousers that were worn only in critical days and these pants also absorbed the discharge. - The first pads began to be sold only at the beginning of the 20th century; they were built from soft tissue with high absorbency.
Then there were pads from cellucotton- a means invented for bandaging wounds and remarkably absorbing moisture. - In the 30s of the 20th century. released to the market first tampons, created from cotton wool and threads that gave the tampon its shape and "tail".
The entire subsequent history of the development of the gasket business includes work to popularize gaskets (ladies did not buy them for a long time, because they were embarrassed) and to improve the structure, fastening, storage, filling and other things. The achievements of these scientific developments have made life modern woman quite comfortable and convenient on any day of the menstrual cycle.
Who Invented Gaskets? How did women get along without them before? What's new today in this sector of the market?
Candidate of philological sciences, lecturer at the department of advertising at the Moscow Institute international law and economics. A. S. Griboyedova Marina Vladimirovna PETRUSHKO .
- The topic of "critical days" was and still remains a taboo in many cultures of the world. Over its centuries-old history, it has acquired myths - somewhere women were forbidden to cook food during this period, somewhere they were isolated in special huts. So far completely different religions they are forbidden to cross the threshold of temples on such days. Like women in different times and in different countries solved this problem? The Egyptians, for example, rolled papyrus tampons. In Greece and the Roman Empire, it was customary to use sheep's wool, treated in a special way. Residents of the North crushed alder bark to the state of sawdust or used moss. In China and Japan, special paper was used. Russian peasant women are self-woven linen... Until the end of the 19th century, washed pads hung on ropes, resembling a crocheted washcloth with loops at the ends, were a common landscape of European and American courtyards. They were fastened to clothes or a special belt.
German ladies' magazines and brochures published patterns that could be used to tailor and sew such belts to individual measurements. It was the practical Germans who set up the process of industrial production and "public" advertising in the press of disposable cotton pads. Paul Hartmann's factory produced "Hartmann's MULPA Damen-binde". "MULPA" was positioned as the only pocket-sized pads, indispensable for travel.
In 1895, these products appeared in England and the USA, bringing the factory to the level of an international manufacturer. A year later, Johnson & Johnson released their Johnson & Johnson disposable pads, named after Dr. Lister, a promoter of surgical antisepsis. But both of them did not have much commercial success. Cultural and religious traditions, as well as public opinion.
The boom in the popularity of disposable hygiene products came in the 20s of the XX century. Women felt their own social significance, felt freer and more relaxed. They began to drive cars, go in for sports, got permission to smoke in in public places. In the First World War, women from many countries took an active part as medical personnel, sisters of mercy. Since professional activity sisters of mercy is connected and the success story of disposable pads.
Medical authority has always been a favorite means of persuading buyers. People trust doctors more than anyone else. In their first press advertisements in January 1921, the Kotex company, a pioneer in the production of disposable pads, explained the origin of the new type of pads as follows: "American nurses working in France during World War I first tried the new bandage based on wood pulp as sanitary pads. It turned out that this dressing is more hygroscopic than cotton. And at the same time, it is not so expensive.” This is how the popular “Kotex” was born today.
The German manufacturers of hygiene products for women "Camelia" in the same years attracted sister of mercy Tekla for cooperation. In addition, the pad brand logo was complemented by a cross, emphasizing the connection between the advertised product and the fact that the sister of mercy is also a representative of the Christian Hospital.
Menstrual hygiene has its own history.
There were the most different ways hygiene. The most common way to deal with menstruation for a long time was seclusion. During the period of menstruation, a woman was isolated from society. IN African tribes women during this period had to live in certain huts. This was done in order to protect women from ridicule. An attractive appearance was lost, since clothes were not able to hide the condition of a woman.
After a while, hygiene products began to appear, there was no need to isolate women.
The hygiene products that appeared were supposed to have the ability to absorb secretions, hiding from everyone around them what condition the woman was in.
The first hygiene products
Tampons began to be used by wealthy ladies back in Ancient Egypt, in Byzantium. For these purposes, they used papyrus. Since papyrus was expensive, not everyone could use it. These tampons were quite uncomfortable, as papyrus is quite a hard material.
Poorer women used ordinary linen fabric as pads, which had to be washed repeatedly. Therefore, the critical days were difficult period for the fair sex. I had to use 20 pieces of fabric, constantly changing and washing them. Men, seeing rags hung on balconies and fences, knew about the condition of women and did not visit them at that time.
Fabrics were also used for gaskets in ancient Rome. Some women rolled balls of wool, using them as tampons. However, pads made from different types materials: felt, linen, canvas.
In Asia, women used paper napkins that folded into an envelope. He was held by a handkerchief, which was attached to the belt under the bottom of the clothes. Menstrual belts appeared already in Japan: this is a strip attached to the belt. A disposable paper napkin was placed under the strip.
Hygiene products in Russia
In Russia in the 18th century, "ports" were used, resembling pantaloons made of dense material. All secretions were absorbed by these ports. They were under a lot of skirts. Many commoners used petticoats as hygiene products, tucking them between their legs.
Due to the lack of contraception, most women were often pregnant or in a state of breastfeeding - lactation, when menstruation is practically absent. Therefore, these days were rare for women.
In Europe, America, at the beginning of the 20th century, they began to use pads made of canvas, felt, made homemade more often. Disposable paper pads were burned in the fireplace. Reusable pads were not enough convenient way due to the need to wash and store used pads. In America, until the 40s of the twentieth century, menstrual underpants were used.
Disposable pads appeared during the First World War, when nurses began to use cellulcotton material for hygiene products, which absorbs secretions.
