"That is all, darling, and now you know that Margaret was different today because it was for her the first day of the new purification. It was such a new event that she naturally felt like being quiet.""Mother," said Marjorie May, "you are wonderful to have told me about this new experience I am soon to have. I shall feel quite a young lady when the new purification comes, because it will mean that I have grown up."
— To read the 10-page pamphlet from the '30s on how to talk to a young girl about menstruation, check it out here.
Miss Sixty
the absolute last word i would use to describe that time of the month is "purification" ...euphemism anyone?!? lol
1too funny!
2Purification? makes it sound like the apocalypse.
3Anyone else read the whole thing? hilarious !!
4I felt so pure and womanly when I got my period. I mean, it was just a great experience with the cramps, breakouts, and almost bi-polar behavior.
5ditto Chrstne!
6wow
7LOL Chrstne
8Running... sure did, wow, wow, wow! lol
9I got my book in elementary school. We were told not to share the book with anyone, I thought it was something magical!! I guess y'all know I'm still pissed about it. Do they still commit this fraud on little girls?
10Well. It is really strange how they call it "purification", but the advice inside is actually really practical, and only has the one superstition that "hard activity" isn't good during your period in it. I think this was before tampons were widely available, so I'm pretty sure the real reason for that was so you didn't get yourself all bloody in public.
Hey, if mothers teaching their daughters about periods really did get suspended during the Victorian period, I can see why this would have been very helpful at the time. Of course it's completely ridiculous now, especially because we can explain exactly what a period is, but maybe back then they really didn't know.
Calling it purification made me laugh so hard though! They tried SO hard to make it sound prim and ladylike...
11I didn't know Kotex was around back then either. How old is it, anyway?
12maybe 1940-1950. My elderly aunts talked about making their own from terry cloth!!
13lol
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