Now I feel ancient!
I was talking with a younger co-worker about when I was "coming of age," I sent off for a sanitary pad starter kit from the Modess company. It came with all sizes of pads and info, plus a sanitary belt (with straps and safety pins!) that I used to "practice" with. I think the adhesive pads were fairly new, if they included belts in the kit, but this was in the early 70s. She looked at me like I was a nutcase when I told her that pads had little straps that were safety pinned or attached to the belts to hold them in place. I feel like I should go take a dose of Geritol! LOL Thank goodness that we don't have to deal with that stuff anymore!!!!

By Paulas on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 11:00 am:

I never used belts. I can't image what that would have been like. When I wear a pad I feel as though I have a diaper on. I have to wear them more often now as back-up but I don't like them at all.

By Missbookworm on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 11:41 am:

I remember my mom having those belts, but I never used them. I found them once and was like what are these!?

I personally can't STAND wearing pads and use tampons and a panty liner as backup just in case.

By Hol on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 12:55 pm:

I sure do! I "became a woman" in 1962, and there were no stick-on pads then. The summer of 1958, I remember a girl at camp getting her first, and I was afraid that she was dying, so Mom decided that night, that it was time for "the talk". She got out a belt and pad, and explained the whole process. And, yes Janet, I remember those kits. My cousin and I sent for them.
The pads with belts felt like a giant wedgie (that's why I just don't understand why anyone wants to wear thong underwear ). You couldn't wear tight jeans because the outline of the belt would show.
The stick-on pads came about in the seventies, coinciding with the feminist movement. That was also the era of pantyhose, eliminating the need for garters and stockings. (In high school, I weighed 105 lbs and wore a PANTY GIRDLE and stockings. ) Both the stick-on pads and pantyhose were very liberating.
It was much worse for generations before us. I remember my Grandma, who was born in 1899, telling me how they used rags. Cut up sheets, that were pinned to your underwear. You had to soak them in a "diaper bucket" type thing, then wash and hang them on the clothesline. She said that, even if they had store bought pads, no one had money to spend on something like that. You only used things that were reusable. She said that disposable pads came about for female members of the military during World War II.
Don't they still use belts for those HUGE "mattress sized" pads that they put on you postpartum? That was the last time I wore a "belt", and my last birth child was born in 1976!
I never liked tampons. I used them in the summer, with swimming and all, but it always seemed to me that they restricted flow, and if there was anything wrong, you would see it better on a pad.
How far we've come! Our female ancestors would think that we are very spoiled!

By Janet on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 01:20 pm:

I had my kids in the 90s, and they gave me huge pads, but no belts.
I'm so glad I was the right age to benefit from the women's movement!

My dad, who was in the Air Force during WWII, said they used pads to protect their shoulders from the gun butts! Personally, I used to use them as Barbie beds.

By Kaye on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 01:27 pm:

LOL...you can buy flannel sewn reusable pads, and you do wash them just like diapers. Kind of funny the signs of the times. They are all natural fabrics, etc.

By Kaye on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 01:30 pm:

http://www.oxyboost.com/cleaning_pages/cloth_menstrual_pads.html

Here's a sight that talks about the natural pads

By Trina~moderator on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 01:40 pm:

Yes, they were still around when I "became a woman" in 1974. My older cousin used one and I remember feeling thankful that my Mom bought me Maxi pads. LOL!

By Angellew on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 01:55 pm:

Same here... I was in 1975 and my mom bought me the whole belt thing! I remember saying to her... "Ahhhhh, they have sticky ones now. Can I have those?" and she laughed! So, I had one, but never actually used it. Just held it up and inspected it and said "Nah!"

By Dawnk777 on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 01:59 pm:

I became a woman in May of 1973. I remember using a belt a little bit, way in the beginning and then, thankfully, they came out with New Freedom and Stayfree adhesive pads! Yay! Belts were horrible and liked to go into your crack. It wasn't very nice.

When I had my kids, they gave me these net-type panties, that expanded to you and were snug enough to hold the pads in place. Plus, I think those were stick-on pads, too.

By Karen~admin on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 02:20 pm:

I remember them.........1967 for moi. UGH!! Then they came out with *Santy Panties*, which were very elastic/close fitting panties with a thing in the crotch that the pad attached to.

I started using tampons the very next year.

By Cat on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 02:23 pm:

Well, I do know what you're talking about, but I was born in 1971 so no, I never used one. I do remember my grandmother telling me about using rags and washable pads. Yuck! Wonder what they'll come up with next???

By Crystal915 on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 02:26 pm:

Oh, I am very grateful to be a child of the 80s, because I have no idea what you guys are talking about, but it sounds like it SUCKED!! I hate pads anyway, they give me rashes no matter how often I change them, thank god for tampons!

By Dandjmom on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 02:37 pm:

Well I didnt' have a belt when I became a woman early 1980's. There where a lot of choices for protection( pads) on the market.

But when i had my daughter in 1995, I was given one of those big bulky pads( that you can also buy in the store, I dont' see why anyone would. But I was given the bulky pad and the belt, which I just used a bunch of paper towels until my aunt arrived with some adhesive pads. I had no idea what to do with the belt.

Fast forward to 2003, when I had my on I was offered a bulky pad, with net style panties like Dawn had, except for these didnt' seem to adjust to any size, they ripped very easily , and the pad was non stick so it did not stay in place.

By Dana on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 04:59 pm:

Janet, do they even market Geritol anymore? LOL Yet another age marker

I never had to use a belt, the adhesive came out just at the right time for me. But I went straight to tampons without even telling my mom. I just thought those pads were so gross. HUGE too!

I remember this little book my mom gave me called "Growing Up and Liking It" put out by Kotex. It was the same one my mom gave to my sister who is 7 years older than me. Shoot, it might have even been my mothers! I had all those girls wearing full skirt dresses, penny loafers and socks. The boys were wearing skinny ties. Let's just say it didn't really relate to my idea of the teen social life I was planning to grow up in.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 05:54 pm:

My mom got me some sort of Kotex started pak, too! LOL! She expected me to read it and come to her with questions. I read the book and really didn't have any questions. I was kind of embarrassed to bring it up, too.

I've been a little more open about it, with my own kids. We can all easily talk about it. I liked the Growing Up: It's a Girl Thing book, too. It explained things in a nice conversational tone, without sounding like a text book.

By Kim on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 06:50 pm:

1981 for me and my Mom was so old fashioned that she didn't tell me about stick on pads!!!!! Supposedly she didn't "know" about them! I used the belt. My best friend was horrified and had to show me the newer products. The belt was SOOOO uncomfortable and you could see it through your clothes and whatnot. Thank goodness for my best friend!

By Dawnk777 on Monday, July 17, 2006 - 10:26 pm:

Oh no, Kim! LOL! That was nice of your friend!

By Breann on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 12:06 pm:

I started the summer of '93. My mom took me to the store and showed me which brand she liked to use. I went with that brand. They were like diapers. I told her that I wanted the new kind that I had seen on tv with "wings". She laughed and said that there were none with wings. We went to the store and found them. We got the ultra thin's with wings, lol. I was always embarrased to talk about things like this with my mom. ;)

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 03:00 pm:

My kids were very unimpressed by thick diaper-like pads. They use the ultra thins with wings, too!

By Hol on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 04:21 pm:

Dana - Yes, I had "Growing Up and Liking It", too, and the pictures were just as you describe. LOL! Kind of like a spoof commercial on "Nick at Night" or something. It probably WAS your Mom's. There were a lot of them circulating around in the 50's and 60's. Heck, the school nurse would give you a copy.

I don't think that they should be advertised on TV so openly, tho. They also advertise products for "feminine itch", douches, and condoms. Some things should just be more descreet,in my opinion. "In my day" (when we lived in caves, according to my DS's) you actually had to go to the back of the pharmacy for pads, and the boxes were wrapped in plain brown paper.

By Mommmie on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 07:44 pm:

How dare you put belts back into my memory! ;)

Worst. Invention. Ever.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 09:24 pm:

Hol, those boxes of Stay-free and New Freedom, were VERY BRIGHTLY COLORED! I was babysitting by that time, and always had a little cash on hand. I usually went to the store and bought my own. My one friend and I would go together. The store wasn't that far from my house.

By Hol on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 09:39 pm:

Dawn - As I said before, the feminist movement changed a lot of things....around the seventies. I do remember when the stick-on pads came out, and I just thought they were such an ingenious invention. Like..how come someone hadn't thought of this before?

Along the same lines, I remember when Pampers came out in the 60's. The glue on the tapes was a one time use. You had to hope that where you stuck the tab was where you wanted it. I remember once, when DD was about two. It was 1974. We went for a ride one Sunday afternoon, and I guess I had figured that it would be a short one, because I didn't bring an extra Pamper. Well, of course, DD went #2. I peeled off the tape on one side, and fortunately, it was pretty "solid". I took the diaper off her, dumped the poo in the woods, and put it back on her. DH had a tool box in the trunk with electrical tape. We taped the Pamper up so that we could get home. LOL! Now, they have these wonderful velcro tabs. My only problem, when changing my grandaughter is, I can never remember if Elmo goes in the front or the back.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - 11:42 pm:

They have velcro now? Wow! I know, my kids were born in 1989 and 1992. They even changed the diapers between my kids. Now, they are even better. The ones my kids had, were more plasticky. NOw, they are more like paper and I bet they are more comfortable, for your baby!

By Crystal915 on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 12:59 am:

Hol, I agree with you on the discretion. I think advertising condoms in an appropriate way (promoting safe sex, not "hey baby, let's do it!!") is important, but things like "personal lubricant", pads, tampons, and the such, do we REALLY need the ads?? I mean I don't feel like hearing how free someone in when on her period!

By Hol on Wednesday, July 19, 2006 - 01:08 am:

Crystal - I couldn't agree more.

By Janet on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 09:34 am:

I remember The Film they showed us in school (4th grade!) called, "It's Wonderful Being a Girl." Yeah, right! One of the funniest things to me (now) was how they kept stressing that it's OK to take a shower or wash your hair when you're having your period... I guess my older sister was told you shouldn't get wet during "that time." Ugh! I remember the book,"Growing Up and Liking It," too! But I think I got most of my info from, "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret." I memorized that book!!

By Angellew on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 11:00 am:

OMG!!!! I LOVED "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret."!!!!! In fact, I loved most of Judy Blume's books! Wow... I haven't thought of those in a lot of years! And, you're right. They were the most informative. I hate to tell you about the book my mother presented me with! The pictures were non-descriptive paper cut-out form things! They started with womanly facts and then went the the sex stuff... flowers, chickens, puppies and humans. But, the way they described how humans did it, all I could picture in my mind was the man's equipment being somewhat "fire hose-like"... unrolling and going where it had to go! It was very confusing and scary! Kept me away from boys for quite awhile! And then when I did figure out what they had, I still shook my head! Very Funny!!!!

By Hol on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 11:19 am:

Angela - TOO FUNNY!! Yeah, I had a real stilted idea about the whole sex thing, too, only I thought that men were hard all the time! I thought, "how in heck do they sit down or walk around?" LOL! ( I still wonder how they deal with it in the hot weather, and everything sticks... )

Janet, I remember the bathing thing, too. They told us it was okay to shower, but not a tub bath, and definitely no swimming!!! I remember my Grandma telling me some Victorian story about the dire consequences of swimming during "that time". She also told me that if you had a tooth filled then, it wouldn't stay in, and if you had your hair permed, it wouldn't take. WOW!! I'm surprised our heads didn't turn all the way around, too! LOL!!

By Angellew on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 12:02 pm:

LOL!!!! My grandmother is 83 and she told me, and truly believed that if you went into the ocean, the sharks would sniff you out and come for ya!!!!!! Cause growing up in New England sharks are such a BIG concern!!! NOT!!! haha

By Hol on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 03:52 pm:

Too funny!!!

By Cat on Thursday, July 20, 2006 - 04:07 pm:

I remember my mom giving me a little booklet explaining what was happening to my body and all that. It had been hers when she was a girl, and that would have been in the 50's. I do vaguely remember a picture of a girl with penny loafers, folded over ankle sock and jeans that were rolled up to mid-calf. Wonder if it's the same book?!? lol I'm sure she's still got it somewhere!