Vintage sanpro: anyone remember giant towels with loops and belts?

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The first ones mum gave me were huge affairs with an elastic waist belt. There were these loops at each end that you threaded through to wear - felt like you were straddling a hammock and made you walk like a jockey. The horror.

Then there was the Bunnies incinerator at school - a terrifying steampunk monstrosity that you fed the used towel in and it would make an appalling noise as it mashed it up. Oh, I wonder if that was why mum called towels 'bunnies'?

I quickly discovered Vespre towels - someone had the rather bright idea that regular press on towels always bunched into a particular curved shape in use, so why not make them in that shape? I liked those.

I was a late tampon adopter - started at 18. Tho I liked the ones with the pull-out compact applicator (Compak??), I always wondered - who the hell thought those sharp plastic teeth was a good idea??

I went meno before mooncups happened, sadly so I can't comment.

Ah, memories ...

Now I use washable ones and I will get some for my daughter when she needs them. A total circle as my mum said to me how lucky I was to use disposable pads when she’d had to use washable ones that were made of rags and had to be boiled clean in a pan on the stove. She would be horrified if she knew I used washable ones

Ironic really when you consider that the disposable pads have edged us back down the embarrassing path, with all the added perfumes that give us rashes etc you either pay several pounds for the posh foam/cotton style ones or make do with the regular kinda plasticky ones that make u sweat and cut you.

I love how cloth almost makes you enjoy your periods as you can choose all sorts of lovely designs and it brightens up your day getting too choose

yes, I remember them. I was too embarrassed to use the incinirator and blocked the toilet. We all had a Stern Talk.

However, my mother, in her wisdom, decided to give me the brushed cotton nightshirts of my recently deceased uncle to tear up and use instead. Honestly, looking back on it, what a thing to do!

I remember my 1st tampon. I started university in Edinburgh and thought, 'sod it, I've had enough of this' and inserted my 1st one in the toilets of Woolworths on the Royal Mile.

My mother was too embarrassed to talk to me about the 'birds and the bees' or periods, but aged about 10 or 11 she took me into her bedroom and showed me the special drawer where the looped pads and sanitary belt were ready and waiting for when I started. I was so mortified at the idea that I reckon it basically put my development on hold - I didn't start until I was 14!

Luckily my younger sister started before I did, and by the time I needed sanpro the pads and belt had been magically replaced with press-on towels. I daren't imagine how the conversation went when she was confronted with the Dr Whites monstrosity - presumably without any warning 😞

Oh yes! Recall the sinister ‘Bunnie’ device in the girls’ loos, and towels you could - at a pinch - use as a mattress. I can’t recall when I switched to tampons, but when mooncups became a ‘thing’ I got one and never looked back. I no longer require any such items these days though.

I'm 61 my mother gave me Tampax from the get go. The first one was a bit of a disaster as she didn't buy the slim line ones but after that I never used towels until much, much later when a tampon on its own wasn't enough.

Yes, definitely a virginity thing. And when I had my first DC I had de ja vu when the midwife slapped what felt like a folded up newspaper against my nether regions. Awful.

I don't like using 'sanitary' either, tbh, as it implies periods are insanitary. 'Menstrual protection' or 'menstrual products' is OK, I think.

Periods are a sanitation issue, both from a health perspective for individuals, and also at a social/community level. It's not something that most of us who live with pretty good sanitary products and infrastructure worry about much, but it is an issue in poorer places and also has been a significant issue in earlier times.

I realise people feel this can stigmatise girls and women, but it's not something that goes away because we change the language we use.

When tampons were first marketed they were promoted as suitable for married women only (ie.not virgins).

I only started using them at 18 first year at uni. I'd developed a bit of a fear of using them (yes, virgin until 21 ...) until I had had a stern word with myself, got some KY jelly and took a deep breath and had my first go.

Terminology is interesting isn't it! They were definitely called sanitary towels in the 70s when I started.

And those ads coyly featuring blue liquid and tampons in glasses of water.

Ancient Egyptian tombs for women were stocked with papyrus tampons. I wonder if the early male archaeologists knew what they were.

A 'rubberised silk sanitary apron'. WTF would that have been like to wear?!

www.google.com/search?q=ancient+egyptian+tampon+images&client=firefox-b-m&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjWnIvf29fpAhUNWsAKHWiQADMQ_AUIBigB&biw=360&bih=615#imgrc=3L9IxQzwMZWoHM%3A

At least these monstrosities were obsolete before I started off!

I remember in primary school one of my friends got her period and one of the teachers gave her a dr whites belt contraption. She wasn't in the last year of school as she had moved house so it must've been 1991. I remember it was summertime. And the thought of me having to wear them terrified me. Thankfully my mum bought me always and lilets but I used to prefer the bodyform ones that you could get in the machines in the toilets in school.
Then I too could've supplied the material for the last scenes of Carrie like another poster on here. My Nan has to give me super duper nappy type things because it was that heavy. Then in my early 20s I found mooncups and now, post hysterectomy I'm period free and it's bloody heaven!

I'm only 30 so dont remember the pads you are describing but recently due to the lockdown there was no sanitary towels left in the supermarket. I hate tampons cant sleep in them... so went online hoping to buy a moon cup thing... and those had sold out everywhere too! So in the end I got some hand sewn fabric re usable pads from an eco store! I imagine they are like what you are describing? They clip underneath your knickers with poppers. You rinse the blood out in cold water when they are full and put them in with your wash load. Then dry and re use. I actually really like them tbh.... lots more comfortable and lots less plastic waste...
However they are bulky so I'm not sure they will still be my choice after the lockdown ends... they are fine for in the house or going on a countryside walk.... not so sure theyd be great for a night out lol!!

I'm 51. No one I knew had the loop and belt ones, they were available in chemists, but not many - the shelves were dominated by stick on. They what school provided if you were caught short - as a deterrent to asking for them if you didn't absolutely need them.

I found body form almost straightaway after wondering how I was supposed to walk straight with what seemed like a foam brick between my legs. I moved on to Lilets pretty quickly and didn't use towels again until I had kids decades later. Was amazed at how thin they'd become and so pleased my kids have access to that now. I've moved on to period pants for most of my period but still use tampons for the heavier days.

The awful elastic belt with clips plus cotton bricks with loops were the first ones I was given - horrendous!

I used to ride and wore jodhpurs for events - they are very tight and show every bump. The only way I managed to persuade my mother to let me use tampons was by explaining how embarrassing it was wearing a pad - and showing her how obvious it was by putting on the jodhpurs and bending forwards

She was shocked and gave in. There was still a "thing" about tampons though - I don't know whether it was about virginity or a more general disquiet that the penetration was a sort of violation. Definitely something to do with a loss of innocence, that menstruation was absolutely fine and natural but that tampons were a bit dodgy!

Who was "Dr White"??? I found the name creepy as I imagined an old, white haired, moustachioed bloke in a white coat - a sort of pervy cross between Albert Einstein and Dr Livingstone!

This advert is a spoof but made by women who knew all about it!

"Kotex Classic"

I'm 51. No one I knew had the loop and belt ones

I'm 61. I've never seen the loop and belt ones.

I'd heard of the belt and loop ones, but my mum gave me the "brick style" pads (which normally had one rubbishy adhesive strip on it, that you had to pray would work!). Lord they were awful!!

She didn't tell me a huge amount about periods (it was all v top secret and she probably found it quite embarrassing to talk about): I remember when I got my first period, I went crying to my Dad, thinking I was going to die. He very matter-of-fact assured me that wouldn't happen, and that I ought to go and talk to my Mum.

I then remember hearing about Tampax...adverts in Just Seventeen magazine (which I wasn't allowed to get - I had strict parents!). I used the coupon from the advert to send off for a freebie sample of Tampax!

In the past 10-15yrs I've used moon cups and cloth pads (MUCH more comfy).

I do remember the idea of looped towels (mid 40s) but “press-on towels” and “panty pads” were what we had in the late 80s. All very twee.

There was a cheap brand called Poise with a picture of a ballet dancer on. The sides of the towels used to chafe on the inside of my thigh and they’d always leak in the pre-wings days.

I remember the first time using a Lil-let and I could not get it in - it kind of got stuck half in half out 😭

PS I also knew very little about periods. My five year old daughter knows more than I knew at 13 which I think is positive.

@DidoLamenting

I'm 51. No one I knew had the loop and belt ones

I'm 61. I've never seen the loop and belt ones.

I’m 45 and I remember seeing them in Boots.

I’m 58 and definitely remember being given them by my mother after I told her I had my first period.. I was completely mortified by the belt contraption thing and remember walking down the street absolutely convinced that everyone could actually see the towel/nappy between my legs.. definitely relieved to discover the stick on ones but always felt the need to wear two pairs of knickers to keep everything in place..

Today my 3 year old daughter unwrapped a multi pack of my overnight always and then attached (anatomically correctly) to all her teddies because they were also on their periods.

Adding nothing to discussion but thought I'd share the solidarity I was presented with when I went into her bedroom this afternoon.

🤣🤣🤣I hope you have another packet...

Just remembered a story my mother told me from her childhood, when she was about nine.

She had a headache - a very rare thing throughout her life. Her mother told her "there's something in the medicine cabinet". So she went to look - and came back downstairs wearing a sanitary towel over her forehead with the loops over her ears!

Come to think of it . . . makeshift Covid-19 mask???

I wonder if the different experiences (or lack of) with old-style "sanpro" for those in the 40 - 60+ age band relate to:

• where we grew up? (what country)

• age of our mothers? (mine was VERY ahead of her time but also much older than the average back then)

• "comfort zone" of mothers around "feminine issues" (as the euphemism used to be) and/or sexual issues?

I went to an all-girls secondary school and sanpro options were a subject of great, if whispered, interest in the late 60's / early 70's.

Within 4 - 5 years tampons went from being a bit of a risqué option (virginity and all that) to the default, with only girls from the most religious families continuing to use pads. By then, the "sticky backed" type were the norm, if used at all, but some girls still used elastic belts with clips and pads with loops.

She had a headache - a very rare thing throughout her life. Her mother told her "there's something in the medicine cabinet". So she went to look - and came back downstairs wearing a sanitary towel over her forehead with the loops over her ears!

That’s bloody (scuse the pun) brilliant!

Stick on pads were available from 1969. I had to Google what you're talking about on this thread- I've never come across anything other than tampons or adhesive pads.

I remember the excitement in my class when the first of us got her period and her showing us her blood- stained pad. That sounds odd now but I think we were just fascinated about what was happening and wanted to know all about how it felt for her.

I wonder if the different experiences (or lack of) with old-style "sanpro" for those in the 40 - 60+ age band relate to

where we grew up? (what country)
Village in northern rural Scotland

- age of our mothers? (mine was VERY ahead of her time but also much older than the average back then)

24 when she had me

"comfort zone" of mothers around "feminine issues" (as the euphemism used to be) and/or sexual issues?

Very comfortable- she didn't use euphemisms and suggested Tampax from the start.

Thinking back the mother of the girl I mentioned in my earlier post was very much the same. I don't recall periods being shameful or something not to discuss. We talked about them a lot and who was the next to start.