3. Flush Your Marriage Problems Away
You may be familiar with Lysol as a household cleaning product. But in the 1950s and 60s, this germ-killing solution had another very different purpose: “feminine hygiene,” also known as birth control. Since the Comstock Act of 1873 banned the distribution of contraceptive products or information, either across state lines or through the mail, companies renamed their birth control products under the guise of “feminine hygiene.”
Condoms and diaphragms were expensive, so in the mid-20th century, vaginal douching became a very popular method of female contraception. Now, douching is highly discouraged as it seems to hurt more than help. And at the time, many women suffered from poisoning due to Lysol douching.
Lysol’s shocking vintage ads truly preyed on the insecurities of their target demographic—explicitly asserting that wives’ neglect to maintain proper”feminine hygiene” was to blame for their failing marriages.