Alas, no. I'm a historian and I study women's history, but usually historians write books with very few images.
Here's what you want to look out for, though.
Any advertisement that says its product will help regulate a woman's menstrual cycle is an abortifacient or a contraceptive. Products that advertise cleanliness are for contraceptives - especially those sold as douches. However, since advertisers couldn't come outright and say what they were for, they'd often write copy like the copy below. I've bolded the words that were double-talk for pregnancy, birth control, and contraceptive/abortive advice.
" 'She looks old enough to be his mother!' A catty remark - but this time, it's true and actually she is five years younger than her husband. And the pity of it it is that, in this enlightened age, so often a woman has only herself to blame if she fails to stay young with her husband - and with her woman friends. Today science has applied itself to those delicate problems of feminine hygiene upon which so much of a woman's good health and youthfulness and charm depend. Today there need be no misconception of the true facts. The makers of 'Lysol' Disinfectant offer you a booklet called 'The Scientific Side of Health and Youth" which gives the correct information and simple rules which every woman should have for constant reference. It is sound professional advice, written for women by a woman physician. It is free. Simply send in the coupon below. The booklet will reach you in a plain envelope. In the meantime, don't take needless chances. Buy a bottle of "Lysol" disinfectant today at your drugstore. Complete directions come with every bottle. "Lysol" Disinfectant is sold at retail only in the brown bottle packed in the yellow carton." [bold emphasis mine, italics theirs]
In the 1930s FDR got through regulation that said that drug and cosmetic information had to be accurate - truth in advertising. Before that, Listerine was a mouthwash, a dandruff cure, an after-shave tonic, a cure for colds and sore throats, an astringent, and a deodorant.
There's a good book out there that has some ad copy from the 1920s to 1940s. It's called Advertising the American Dream by Roland Marchand. You can probably find a copy in your library.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-04-16 02:57 pm (UTC)Alas, no. I'm a historian and I study women's history, but usually historians write books with very few images.
Here's what you want to look out for, though.
Any advertisement that says its product will help regulate a woman's menstrual cycle is an abortifacient or a contraceptive. Products that advertise cleanliness are for contraceptives - especially those sold as douches. However, since advertisers couldn't come outright and say what they were for, they'd often write copy like the copy below. I've bolded the words that were double-talk for pregnancy, birth control, and contraceptive/abortive advice.
" 'She looks old enough to be his mother!' A catty remark - but this time, it's true and actually she is five years younger than her husband. And the pity of it it is that, in this enlightened age, so often a woman has only herself to blame if she fails to stay young with her husband - and with her woman friends. Today science has applied itself to those delicate problems of feminine hygiene upon which so much of a woman's good health and youthfulness and charm depend. Today there need be no misconception of the true facts. The makers of 'Lysol' Disinfectant offer you a booklet called 'The Scientific Side of Health and Youth" which gives the correct information and simple rules which every woman should have for constant reference. It is sound professional advice, written for women by a woman physician. It is free. Simply send in the coupon below. The booklet will reach you in a plain envelope. In the meantime, don't take needless chances. Buy a bottle of "Lysol" disinfectant today at your drugstore. Complete directions come with every bottle. "Lysol" Disinfectant is sold at retail only in the brown bottle packed in the yellow carton." [bold emphasis mine, italics theirs]
In the 1930s FDR got through regulation that said that drug and cosmetic information had to be accurate - truth in advertising. Before that, Listerine was a mouthwash, a dandruff cure, an after-shave tonic, a cure for colds and sore throats, an astringent, and a deodorant.
There's a good book out there that has some ad copy from the 1920s to 1940s. It's called Advertising the American Dream by Roland Marchand. You can probably find a copy in your library.