

THE MUSEUM OF MENSTRUATION AND WOMEN'S HEALTH Lysol douche ad from March 1948 In an earlier era, officially, only married people were supposed to practice sex, and thus be concerned with the effects of genital odor (although it, good and bad, is detectable in public), except for menstrual odor, which was everybody's concern - and still is (read what causes it). Squirting Lysol up the vagina made it a bacteria-poor container, all set to let the stronger, surviving organisms multiply and cause problems worse than odor, and eliminating the healthy bacteria that are inhabitants of the vagina. And, of course, the odor in the first place may have indicated serious problems, problems for the doctor, not Lysol. Women also used Lysol as a birth-control device, douching with it to kill sperm. Andrea Tone, in Devices & Desires (2001, Hill & Wang), writes of the vaginas that the liquid burned, as does the book Facts and Frauds in Woman's Hygiene, from 1936 . See another Lysol douche liquid ad, from 1928. But see a letter from an 89-year-old Canadian woman who started douching with Lysol at 17, in the February 2005 MUM News. Read 1930s criticism of Zonite and Lysol. Lysol information in old newspapers and see Lysol ads from 1928 and 1934. Next: Lysol douche ad, 1934 See another Lysol douche liquid ad, 1928 (U.S.A.) - Lysol douche liquid ad, 1948 (U.S.A.) © 2000 Harry Finley. It is illegal to reproduce or distribute work on

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