Sanitary Belts

[Brooksie]

Usual daily activities with one notable exception...my friend/room-mate (who is in her late 70s, a typical middle-class American) mentioned recently that she was raised to never bathe or wash her hair during "that time of the month"... one tradition I hope never comes back into fashion.

My Mom is in her mid 70's and she was told not to bathe or wash her hair durring that time of the month, when my Mom was a teenager if she complained about having cramps - my grandma told her to stick her hands in the warm dish water & do the dishes, that it would help... but it was just a ploy to get her to do dishes. I am lucky I never have cramps because I am sure if I did my Mom would have told me to get my hands in the dish water also.

Brooksie

 

[crystalface]

My grandma also thought you couldn't be a virgin to use tampons. When I was 13 and she found out I used tampons, she got this exact look
She said, "But aren't those dangerous? Won't they break your hymen?"
(Sorry to be so graphic, but those are pretty much her exact words!)

She too also told me not to go out with wet hair.Finally explained that colds are a virus. (it was very ridiculous for her to be saying this at all in the first place, because we used to live in Hawaii. It's 75 F at night.)

 

[Elaina]

Now when I was a virgin, tampoms were so uncomfortable to use I usually only did so on weekends when I was out.

My mom is progressive. I was such a tom boy that I borke my own hymen falling off a bike (the hard way on the old girl's bike. Fell off the seat onto that little bar and knees around head waddled until I fell over) when I was 10. My mom had explained it to me before that so tampons were not a huge issue here.

Aspirin as birth control got me into trouble, which was my preferred method of BC in HS.

 

[Sunny]

I agree with the comments about not sitting around bemoaning the cramps - I find that good old fashioned physical labour helps immensely!

I definitely agree with that! I've been the most miserable on jobs when I had to stand - cashiering, or cutting fabric. On the other hand, I remember once I had to help my father cut down a tree. Since he handled the chainsaw, my job was trundling to and fro carrying logs and branches. That gentle but very constant exercise not only didn't make the cramps worse, it actually felt good.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Digging up this ancient thread with some interesting information from the May 1940 issue of "Consumers' Union Reports," which features a detailed study of sanitary napkins and tampons available at that time.

The pads of 1940 were much thicker than the pads of today, with most of the bulk made up of a mixture of crepe paper, cellulose dust, and cotton, with the better quality pads wrapping this filler in a moisture-proof wrapping, with a cotton gauze wrapper over that. The cheaper grades of pads had no moisture proof wrapping at all, with the result that they quickly soaked thru and stained the wearer's garments -- if such types of pads were used, a gum-rubber apron was recommended for wear to block staining.

If these pads sound unflushable, that's exactly what the were. CU reports that despite being advertised as "easily disposable," any pad containing cotton in the filling of the wrapper must not be flushed -- to dispose, the cotton parts must be stripped off and disposed of in a trash can before the rest of the filler may be flushed. The reviewer notes serious cases of plumbing trouble are the usual result of indiscriminate flushing of pads.

Tampons, meanwhile, "appeal to many women because their small bulk makes them suitable for quick use and they interfere less with normal activity." However, the tampons of 1940 were small in size and not especially absorbent, with the result that they can generally be used only by women who have a moderate or slight flow. The writer also reports that "no thorough clinical study of the safety of tampons has been reported, and some doctors hold that infection of the uterus and tubes may occur as a result of damming back the flow, but there is little likelihood that this will occur in women with moderate or slight flow."

The testing of various brands of tampons revealed that in some cases it was necessary to insert two tampons side-by-side during periods of high flow. One brand, "Fibs," specifically recommended that they only be used at the very end of the period.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I remember when I was little there was this old, stretched out elastic band with clips on it in our bathroom closet. I had no idea what it was until MUCH later.

Now, I'm kinda curious to try a sanitary belt (can you buy them anymore?) -- but may not want to give up my Softcups!

 

[Idledame]

I grew up with the sanitary pads and elastic belts in the early 60s. The pads were at least 1/2 " thick and maybe 7" long inside a sort of gauze sleeve that extended about 4 inches longer than the pad on each end. The unpadded ends were threaded thru the little metal buckle things (with teeth to hold it firmly) on straps that came down front and back from the elastic belt. It felt like you were wearing a saddle. You never forgot you were wearing them. And because of the design and the fact I weighed about 80 pounds, there were little bulges front and back. "Accidents" happened if you went too long between changes. Sometimes they also shifted as you walked or moved. You could feel it and you would be worried and nervous until you could fix it. I switched to tampons when the little ones came out- maybe the late 60s? But then of course you still wore a pad, just in case.

My mom grew up in the 20s, 30s. She, her mom and 2 sisters used old rags pinned to some sort of belt. They of course all had their periods at the same time, and went through many rags in a day, and had to wash and dry them at night. It drove her dad and brother crazy with the dozens of brown old rags hanging on clotheslines in the bathroom and kitchen for a week out of every month.

I saw in an old Sears catalog that they sold sanitary pads (invented by a nurse) in the mid to late 1800s but my mom said only rich girls could afford to use them, not a family with 4 females!

 

[lframe]

This came up just as someone else on Makeup Alley posted about old sanitary belts and the young gals who had no idea they existed flipped out. My Grandma and Mom used them and I want to say my Grandma still has one at her house.

 

[Wire9Vintage]

When I was a teenager in the 1980s, my mom and I spent some time taking care of my grandmother's oldest sister, born around 1895. She had a slight incontinence problem (this was before Depends being on every grocery store shelf!). My mother suggested a maxi pad. I'll never forget her aunt saying, "oh but I don't have a belt or pins or anything."

My mom then explained that those things were no longer needed--you just stuck them to the undies. The look of amazement was something else! A lot had changed since she had needed anything like that, she had no idea

 

[MissNathalieVintage]

Back in the early 1980s when it was my first time using pads I used a sanitary belt and I can tell you it is the most comfortable thing to ware. But the hardest thing to change and the pads do not offer the best protection during a monthly. When they invented stick on pads with wings it saved a lot of underwear from being damaged. These days I use cloth pads and they are super comfortable. I started a thread all about cloth pads which you can read about here: http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?77660-Party-in-my-Pants-Cloth-Pads/page3

 

[TheNylonSwish]

This is an interesting topic! I recently bought a huge lot of vintage foundations, and within the lot there were quite a few sanitary belts from the era (in medium and large sizes). I considered having a go myself but really couldn't bring myself to wear something like that, it was a step too far. I am all for living the vintage lifestyle but in this case, I'm happy to go with the modern equivalent!

I have (surprisingly) sold quite a few of the belts, but I have noticed that most of the sales come from theatre groups.

If anyone is interested in trying one out, let me know.

Elinor

 

[Delma]

My grandmother told me that using the belted sanitary napkins was uncomfortable and one was prone to embarrassing leaks when using them. She said she constantly worried that her skirt would be stained.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The biggest problem with belts was that they were made with very cheap elastic that would stretch out and get loose and slippy after just a few wearings. They were essentially a disposable item, but the tendency was not to plan ahead and you ended up trying to get one more month out of the old belt. It'd slip down around your hips and leaks and inconvenience would ensue.