Scan of 1950 menstruation primer
Ward says:
LinkJust Between Us..., a booklet for girls about menstration; published by Beltix Corporation, copyright 1950, 1955, 1961.
To me, it's amazing that the editors of this little booklet allowed the spokesgirl to have freaky swirly eyes -- usually a sign of craziness or dizziness! This is either a stroke of genius or incredibly inappropriate -- I'm not too sure.
the latest
latest episodes
I don't think I ever knew that "butter or margarine" (from pg 6 of the booklet) was considered an essential food group. Was this sponsored by the bariatrics industry?
And I don't understand the crazy swirly eyes thing either.
Ok, I think the second "exercise" on page 9 is a little bit, uh, unusual:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wardomatic/2233323233/in/photostream/
I think the swirly-eye thing is a pretty accurate representation of how you feel when you take enough painkillers to get rid of cramps.
Here's another, more recent pamphlet for budding young women.
Growing Up and Liking It:
http://www.flickr.com/gp/28738963@N00/i81Duv
Wait, wait, wait...
So a cake will NOT fall if a menstruating woman bakes it?
It's like I've been lied to all my life. Plus this totally screws my calculations on national annual cake production. Dammit.
How far back to you have to go before you get primers that tell girls to wait things out in a hut in the woods? ("Bring plenty to read, catch up on your sampler, and don't bake any cakes.")
So menstrual blood doesn't really cause everything it touches to shrivel and turn to dust?
Dammit, now I'll have to figure out another way to destroy earth! >:(
OMG - my mom gave me this horror when I was 13. Bad memories....took me years to feel good about being a woman.
I can imagine the late-nights terrors of a kid given this book . . . waiting in dread for that fateful day when her eyes would turn into eerie spirals.
#2: I love sonipitt's description of the exercise.
Somewhere between 11 and 17, we all graduate from girlhood to womanhood.
In the new millennium, we've sped up the process for maximum reproductive efficiency. Age eight (yes 8) is now the 'normal' lower number for girls to begin puberty. Menses may not start until 11, but girls are developing breasts at 7 or 8 according to this LA Times article. My condolences, Mark. You might have to have that talk a lot sooner than you planned.
all those food hormones and estrogenic-mimic chemicals
I blame MTV
Oh. You think that the 8 year olds are getting implants?
http://www.bk.psu.edu/faculty/shibley/Estrogen.PDF
Bummer that the scans are posted with all rights reserved. This would be great stuff to mash up.
This is a whole genre that is simply fascinating. The electronic publisher Alexander Street Press is about to release a subscription database of advice literature called Manuals and Guides on Race, Gender, Sex, and the Family:
North American Advice in Text and Video, 1900-1990 (http://www.alexanderstreet.com/products/adli.htm). THe company's president had been buying this sort of stuff on eBay for years, and finally reached a critical mass and decided to create a searchable full-text database of the things. Have can you not want to read something like the 1940 "How to Get Along with Black People: A Handbook for White Folks and Some Black Folks Too"?
The library where I work is going to be subscribing to this, and I can't wait. But apparently eBay is still a terrific resource for finding and acquiring these things. So, Jeffy, you might be able to get your own copy and do your own mashups.
My mother used to keep this booklet in her dresser drawer. I had snooped at it before she actually presented it to me before THE TALK. I started at 101/2 and was distressed by the age 11 as stated in the book.
One thing the booklet didn't tell you about was the indentation in your crack cause by those damn belts!
Posture is important. There's not enough emphasis on posture these days.