Comments on: Her Secret Past

Her Secret Past

jonson — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 09:33:54 -0800

Her Secret Past is a Flickr group of retro (1950's - give or take a decade) advertisements targeted at women's fears, both the common ones (hairiness/lack of tiny monkey, wrinkles) and the lesser known ones (vagina so dirty it causes you to repeatedly leave parties early). Along the same lines, but for men is His Secret Past - although if you really want to see retro advertisements targeted at men, this set of ads from May 1963's Playboy would be the perfect source.

By: jonson

jonson — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 09:36:47 -0800

D'oh! That would be THIS set of ads from May 1963's Playboy... grumble grumble dang ol' itchy trigger finger!

By: darkstar

darkstar — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 09:50:45 -0800

Yeah, some of these ads are pretty funny. "So, you have vaginal problems? Well, send for our informational brochure on vaginal health. Meanwhile, now that we have your attention, buy THIS product that has nothing to do with that at all."

By: Dillenger69

Dillenger69 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:15:09 -0800

Who knew my wife had been suffering from a lack of tiny monkey all these years.

By: elendil71

elendil71 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:33:10 -0800

Tiny Monkeys for everyone! This travesty cannot continue!

By: Astro Zombie

Astro Zombie — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:33:16 -0800

Actually, Lysol was used as a douche.

By: EatTheWeak

EatTheWeak — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:38:59 -0800

Thanks for this post - it's always a hoot having a look at old ads like this, and seeing the parallels to the modern consumer culture. For instance, this ad could easily pitch Axe body today.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 10:59:05 -0800

Whoa whoa whoa - hold on there, my undead friend. Women used to use Lysol as a douche? The ad is wierdly vague. Do you mean that Lysol sold a douche under the brand name Lysol, or do you mean that women used ordinary Lysol - the same one used worldwide to kill the hanta virus etc in toilets - as a douche? And if the latter, dear god, why?

By: hal9k

hal9k — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:01:51 -0800

For instance, this ad could easily pitch Axe body today. posted by EatTheWeak It was, I did, and my Tiny Monkey has never been the same.

By: subtle_squid

subtle_squid — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:03:03 -0800

Because, as the ad says, "only a poison can kill germs."

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:07:54 -0800

For instance, this ad could easily pitch Axe body today. posted by EatTheWeak . Indeed. I used Axe body wash this morning and I was mobbed by a bunch of women, too. They were lady Transit Cops and they were arresting me for peeing on the train floor, but I was mobbed just the same.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:10:34 -0800

BTW, every guy should print this one out, and put it in his gf's or wife's stocking for a Christmas morning laugh. Better yet, put it in an envelope with the words KNOW YOUR ROLE on the cover.

By: lemuria

lemuria — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:20:51 -0800

Regular Lysol was marketed as a douche. A lot of women interpreted these ads as having a coded message that Lysol was a contraceptive, since advertising birth control was illegal. This article even claims that it was the most popular female contraceptive from 1930-1960 (In the US, I assume)!

By: darkstar

darkstar — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:22:10 -0800

The ad is rather vague about what Lysol's role is in all this...but... ...the idea of Lysol as a douche? *shudder*

By: darkstar

darkstar — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:26:22 -0800

Pastabagel, incredible article. You've come a long way, baby!

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:27:00 -0800

A lot of women interpreted these ads as having a coded message that Lysol was a contraceptive, since advertising birth control was illegal. Good God. I can't tell which is worse - that the company sold lysol for this purpose (douche) when they had no scientific basis for doing so, or that women believed it even after what I can only assume would be horrible results.

By: piratebowling

piratebowling — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:31:24 -0800

I love that the Lysol ad is essentially saying, "Fads come and go, but more women are buying Lysol now than ever before! This proves it makes an excellent douche. And always will be."

By: MikeMc

MikeMc — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:32:34 -0800

Sometimes the jokes just write themselves...

By: bevedog

bevedog — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:32:56 -0800

See also Duke University's John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History, part of their Special Collections Library. Ad*Access contains advertising images from 1911-1956, and includes a Beauty and Hygiene section. It's harder to find the stuff aimed at men, but I have long loved this United Air Lines ad: For Men Only "The Chicago Executive" They also have a separate collection called Emergence of Advertising in America with images from 1850-1920.

By: beaucoupkevin

beaucoupkevin — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:33:41 -0800

Tiny bitching about a great post: I wish the scans were larger. I'm a registered Flickr member, and I'd love to be able to click "large" and get a 800x600 image to peruse more carefully, as my eyes, even with glasses, are that of an old man.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:34:07 -0800

Didn't this one turn out to be a hoax?

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:34:59 -0800

lemuria writes "This article even claims that it was the most popular female contraceptive from 1930-1960 (In the US, I assume)!" You know, that blip claims that Lysol is not effective as a contraceptive; I'm not sure how they know that, but I find it surprising. I mean, I'm sure that a Lysol douche isn't as effective as most forms of scientific birth control, but it's gotta have some effect.... And holy shit, this is totally an ad for a contraceptive. "Coded" my ass; they're pretty explicit about it. Oh, previous Metafilter post about this use of Lysol.

By: beaucoupkevin

beaucoupkevin — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:36:23 -0800

Oh, some people have scanned these at a right and proper size. Much better.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:37:48 -0800

I'm sure that a Lysol douche isn't as effective as most forms of scientific birth control, but it's gotta have some effect.... Well, if the woman does get pregnant, the kid will go through life smelling like a hospital.

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:39:15 -0800

Ohhhhhhh.... rhymes with Gremlin!

By: mr_roboto

mr_roboto — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:39:17 -0800

jonmc writes "Didn't this one turn out to be a hoax?" It's gotta be. It's just too over-the-top. Snopes couldn't confirm the hoaxiness of it, but they couldn't confirm the original source either.

By: Pastabagel

Pastabagel — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:40:21 -0800

This is hilarious and awful at once. Chicago Executives, toxic douches and bare-chested older gentlemen struggling against each other and their underwear. Is it Christams already?

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:40:42 -0800

"Coded" my ass; they're pretty explicit about it. "Complete, explicit instructions come with every bottle." It would be interesting to find those.

By: nooneyouknow

nooneyouknow — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:42:17 -0800

This excerpt from a book published in 1936 criticized Lysol's advertising that said that Lysol was safe to use as a douche and other ads that very heavily implied that it could be used as a contraceptive. And it explains why Lysol sucks as a contraceptive.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:47:55 -0800

Make no mistake, only a poisson can kill germs. In your pants.

By: goo

goo — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 11:50:46 -0800

"Using the wrong disinfectant may lead to very serious consequences" Um. Right. Owie. How many women did serious damage to themselves in this way? Have there been any long-term consequences from the protracted use of Lysol as a douche? Anyone know of any research?

By: marxchivist

marxchivist — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:01:04 -0800

Thanks for posting this. What a coincidence, I posted some late 1800's "Private Instructions to Lady Patients" on my flickr page a couple weeks ago.

By: chairface

chairface — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:07:02 -0800

I thought "tiny monkey" was a euphemism. I stand both corrected and confused.

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:23:59 -0800

Women used to use Lysol as a douche? Yup. I made an FPP about this with all the documentation a couple years ago. The American Medical Association even felt it was necessary to scold Lysol in the early 1960s (!) for marketing itself as a douche, a contraceptive, and potentially an abortifacient.

By: gargoyle93

gargoyle93 — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:31:07 -0800

I once found Listerine ads from 50s pulp magazines in the donation box at the library where I work. They advertised the original formula as a sure-fire infectious dandruff reliever (some google images here).

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 12:38:34 -0800

Oh god, I remember that tiny monkey advertisment! I so wanted one! (I was nine.) Ah, memories of the days when monkeys arrived in the post.

By: davy

davy — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:32:37 -0800

I read "staying young with him" to mean that Lysol made one's cootchie tighter, not that it was birth control. That I don't get: I have yet to have a woman whose vagina was too loose, including middle-aged women who had sex zillions of times and had a baby vaginally at least once.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:37:37 -0800

Well, no one wants to come home to a vagina full of yikes! My wife's vagina is so bright it's gotta wear shades (she understands my world of strain and pressure and speaks to me in a low soothing tone before I head out and stay out all night). *rubs frying pan head injury*

By: wumpus

wumpus — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 13:44:06 -0800

everyone seems to think it's shocking to use lysol as a douche, but - holy crap - have you ever smelt a rancid poon? you have to go to under the kitchen sink and huff the disinfectant through your nose to overcome the smell, all the time pretending you're just looking for a condom, and *whoops* none left! Anyway, all i'm saying is... there are some people... with really stinky vage's. (that's why everyone loves the cock)

By: davy

davy — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:23:20 -0800

No wumpus,, I've never had that experience except with women with active infections of some kind -- that one just runs from. Even then I can't imagine Lysol being an improvement; Pine-Sol maybe.

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:26:42 -0800

Ah, memories of the days when monkeys arrived in the post. It's like Big Rock Candy Mountain!!!

By: quite unimportant

quite unimportant — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:38:14 -0800

Her vagine hangs loose, like sleeve of wizard.

By: figment of my conation

figment of my conation — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:40:47 -0800

I had a 1956 edition of the Merck Manual that listed Lysol solution as a douche. UInfortunately, I can't find a pdf online to back it up.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:45:34 -0800

Even then I can't imagine Lysol being an improvement; Pine-Sol maybe. Evergreen fetishist.

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 17:21:05 -0800

While we're on historical minutiae, can anyone tell me about beer busts or "bundling"? I'm pretty sure they weren't talking about this kind of beer bust, but other than that I'm lost...

By: lovecrafty

lovecrafty — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 02:28:10 -0800

Another Lysol douche ad. "Amazing proved power to kill germ-life on contact [...] Appealing daintiness is assured." Oh, that's not code for anything.

By: ROU_Xenophobe

ROU_Xenophobe — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 06:50:31 -0800

A lot of women interpreted these ads as having a coded message that Lysol was a contraceptive Little did they know that Lysol uses the cleaning power of distilled, concentrated wizard spooge.

By: tehloki

tehloki — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 09:34:32 -0800

I can see a few middle-aged people I know as the offspring of a germophobic housewife and a disgruntled factory worker at a lysol bottling plant.