Friday, June 02, 2006

Time to fire off a few rounds, if you know what I mean (and you soon will)

Regarding the previous post: the Hyperion Institute is going to tackle Global Warming, but as it's still a few weeks away I'll decline comment other than to say that video was hilarious.

On to more important matters: Tampons.

Straight Dope has a great article on how tampons and pads were invented.

Read it, don't read it; I don't care. I bring this up, though because of the first two sentences:

Tampons go way back. The word tampon is probably derived from the Old French word tampion, meaning "a plug or cover for the muzzle of a cannon or gun to keep out dust and moisture."


The cover for the muzzle of a cannon. I have so many jokes I don't even know where to start, so I'll let it just speak for itself.

One other thing. Further down in the article they mention how pads used to have to be worn with belts. I first encountered this (and until I was 16, practically all my feminine hygiene knowledge) from the immortal Judy Blume book Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret.

I didn't understand the belts then, and I still don't. If any of you gals are old enough to know about that (Hyperion wisely avoids calling out any specific names), would you mind leaving an anonymous comment and explain how that would even work. How could a woman wear a belt under her dress? (I assume practically all girls wore dresses back then, at least Margaret, Gretchen and the others did.)

Any information would be most appreciated.

3 comments:

Tracy Lynn said...

The belt, actually just an elastic strip, had a Y clip in the front and in the back. The pad had extra length at each end, which fit into the Y clip, securing the pad.

It was total crap from start to finish, and, besides being uncomfortable, restricting, messy and obvious, is probably responsible for more pre-teen humiliation in the 70's and 80's than any other single thing.

And Koz, you can shave, wax, creme or pluck. You choose.

Schrodinger's Kitten said...

holy crap! I've never heard of this - and Tracy and I are the same age!

who is the genius that came up with adhesive to get rid of this strap thing? I need to give them a hug.

Schrodinger's Kitten said...

and I second Koz for the wrong link.