Advice for girls

The rags: paraphernalia of menstruation

The rags

Advice for girls

Finding information about menstruation has often been difficult for girls, especially if their mothers were too embarrassed to mention the subject at all. Encyclopaedias and 'home doctor' books were helpful for some, but to combat ignorance, superstition and general lack of information, progressive social welfare organisations began producing sex education booklets for young people around the 1920s. Manufacturers of sanitary napkins also published booklets about menstruation as a vehicle for promoting their products.

Booklet of health and menstruation advice for girls, Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday, Kotex Australia Ltd, Australia, 1932.

Booklet of health and menstruation advice for girls, Preparing for Womanhood, Kotex Australia Ltd, Australia, [1930-1935].

Since the time when it began mass-producing women's sanitary products, first in the USA and later in Australia, Kotex has published booklets containing information for girls about menstruation. These booklets have served the additional purpose of promoting the company's sanitary napkins. Preparing for Womanhood and Marjorie May's Twelfth Birthday were produced in the 1930s around the time that Kotex napkins first became available in Australia. PHM collection 98/134/1:2. Gifts of the Sussman family and the National Trust of Australia (New South Wales) collection 1998.

I had a little book issued by Kotex. My mother just handed it to me and said, 'Read this'. There was very little discussion of the subject in our household even though my father was a doctor.
MS, Sydney

Booklet, What Parents Should Tell Their Children, sex education, written by Mary Scharlieb and Kenneth Wills, published by the Racial Hygiene Association of New South Wales, Australia, c1935.

Booklet, Sex in Life - Young Women, sex education, written by Violet D Swaisland and Marie B Douie, published by the Racial Hygiene Association of New South Wales, Australia, c1935.

Founded in 1926, the Racial Hygiene Association of New South Wales had 'three objects in its platform': the teaching of sex education; the eradication and prevention of venereal diseases; and the education of the community along eugenic lines. All of these areas are covered in What Parents Should Tell Their Children and Sex in Life – Young Women, and of course menstruation is one of the topics dealt with. Physiological descriptions are accompanied by the advice that girls should not think of themselves as 'unwell' during their monthly period, and should exercise regularly without foolishly over-exerting themselves during this 'perfectly healthy process'. PHM collection, 2002/120/1, 3. Gift of the estate of Keith and Eileen McPhee 2002.

These booklets belonged to my late aunt and uncle. They were in a compartment of the beautiful wood and stained glass surround of their fireplace. It was always kept locked. As I child I always wanted to look in but we were never allowed.
SF, Sydney

I come from a family where 'that sort of thing' was never mentioned, and I was given no information about menstruation either before or after the event! When mine started I didn't know what it was!
GB, Sydney, formerly Britain

Booklet, A Guide to Womanhood: a Reliable Sex Education Booklet for Young Women 15 Years and Over, The Father and Son Welfare Movement of Australia, Australia, 1961.

Booklet, Tell your Child the Truth: a Reliable Handbook on Sex Education of Children, 6th edition, The Father and Son Welfare Movement of Australia, Australia, 1962.

Booklet, sex education, The Guide through Girlhood: a reliable booklet for young Australian girls, The Father and Son Welfare Movement of Australia, Australia, 1961.

Booklet, Children no Longer! A Guide for Parents on Understanding the Adolescent, The Father and Son Welfare Movement of Australia, Australia, 1962.

The Father and Son Welfare Movement of Australia was a conservative organisation founded in 1926 with the aim of providing authoritative sex education for young people. It issued its first set of sex education booklets in the mid-1950s, and by 1969 sales had exceeded 1.5 million copies. It also produced recordings and sent speakers to schools and other organisations. In the books for girls (and their parents), menstruation is referred to as a perfectly normal function that should be regarded as a 'badge of womanhood'. Inside the back cover of some of the booklets there is an advertisement for Kotex napkins.
PHM collection 96/275/2:5.

There was a ripple of excitement in the classroom when the teacher walked in with a pile of free booklets to hand out. A sort of embarrassed silence fell as we opened them up and discovered what they were about.
MH, Sydney

Growing up. Mothers … to help your daughter to accept menstruation matter-of-factly … Johnson & Johnson have had prepared a twenty page booklet.
Advertisement in 'Handbook to Health' supplement in The Australian Women's Weekly, 12 March 1958. Reproduced courtesy of Johnson & Johnson Pacific. PHM research files. Click image to launch zoomable
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