A Tampon Dispenser From This Decade Please

By:

Mar 13, 2013

Credit: Alina Ramirez.

Every month, girls will either anxiously await for their period to come and reassure them that — no they’re not pregnant. Or give them an unexpected welcome causing them to desperately rummage their purse for a tampon or pad.

But in the rare event that your next door stall person decides to lie to you and not give up one of her precious Tampax Pearl or flat out ignores you, then you’re forced to ask your friends and hope that you’re on the same cycle or resort to buying one from the Tampax dispenser.

Given the plethora of commercials circulating on the TV airways, women now have as many options for feminine products as they do for makeup. There are pads with wings, pads for the “light” days, “pearl” tampons, cardboard tampons, and even organic cotton tampons, oh and scented ones—the list goes on. So of course it would be easy to assume that we’ve come a long way with our menstrual technology, and that, in New York City, we would be the first ones to have a very sleek feminine product dispenser in our bathrooms.

Not really.

The New School still uses a vintage Tampax dispenser, manufactured by Hospital Specialty Company, in one of the sixth-floor

bathrooms of the Eugene Lang building. A sticker plastered on the dispenser shows a woman holding a bouquet of roses. Two things are wrong with this photo. One, they’re called feminine napkins, which can lead anyone to think that these “napkins” have not been updated in quite a while and judging by her mullet/coif, it is safe to assume that this was a very popular trend—in the 80s. And two, the woman is looking at this bouquet with what looks like envy. Envious because she wishes she had rose-smelling napkins?

4 responses

plate sunset orange sierrustm

Apr 1, 2015

Have you ever considered writing an e-book or guest authoring on other
sites? I have a blog based upon on the same subjects you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information.
I know my readers would value your work. If you are even remotely
interested, feel free to shoot me an e-mail.
Chris Till

Oct 1, 2013

Hey, I’m restoring a tampon vending machine similar to this one. I would pay someone to take a high resolution photograph of the silly sticker of the woman with roses on this machine and email it to me. Anybody reading this who goes to New School? Chris Till 937-767-2326
Ann

Mar 17, 2013

At least The New School has installed a clean system for disposal of pads and tampons in the restrooms–Scensibles bags!
Jay

Mar 14, 2013

The tampon vending machine on this page is positively high-tech compared to what I’ve seen in public bathrooms in my trips to LA (metal boxes, with ‘tampons’ and ‘pads’ written by hand on faded sticker labels on the front)…one of many oddities of US public bathrooms via UK public bathrooms.

Here in the UK our tampon vending machines are modern and have flashy lights, they hold a variety of tampons and pads (no safer options like organic tampons/pads or softcups mind), also with things like painkillers, condoms, perfume, and even vibrators.

I’m a menstrual cup user so never have to use such vending machines, but you’d think there’d be more options and modern machines in more public bathrooms…but I guess that’s what menstrual taboos get you, it’s one of many situations I list when women poo-poo the idea of menstrual activism.