h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Very informitive.

Thanks very much! There is some work to do, so it should get better.

I thought this was a very informative piece, but would have liked to know a bit more about the historical context, why did western women take so long to use the tampon? Is one question that comes to mind? I remember seeing a documentary set in a Georgian House where they reenacted the living conditions of the day. The participants had to live to the letter of the day. The women participants were appalled by the fact that women in those days had to use rags at the time of there menstruation. It meant that they were virtually confined to their rooms for the course of the period. It would have made sense to use tampons if they were available. I would like to know some of the reasons why they were not used.

What time period was that? My mother remembers making pads out of cloth and cotton wool when she was growing up. She would have started needing them in the late 50s. In her case I think it would have been a cash issue.

Early 18th century, I just though tampons really came to vogue in the west around the 1970's and yet your research states they were around in ancient Egypt. Serin

Quite often things are used in once country but it's not known until we start digging up their dead, so it might not even be thought of in other countries.

Very hard to come to terms with that concept hey given the modern day communication!


Serin

If you want to do a bit of research about it yourself I can add it to the entry - you'll get a credit for it. My answer above was simply lazy guesswork.

The Egyptian use of a type of tampon comes from archaeological research... and, as Mina suggests, the actions of dead cultures can only come to light, sometimes, if we dig them up. The Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, etc. had many innovations that have only come to light with time, effort and persistance. In this instance, it seems the modern concept of the tampon arose from advances in materials that made them practical and progressively cheaper (and more effective) as the 20th century wore on (or at least that seemed to be the case from my research).

The Apprentice

Thank-you Mina for the offer of researching the Tampon subject further, however I am doing a Uni degree and are currently undertaking a literature review for a social research subject on young people who leave school early. It is my first subject and I am off campus so I have a lot of research on the computer at present going on, so I will pass on your offer. Thank-you also apprentice for your input on the subject too, I am new here so am just getting the hang of thingsSerin