Box of 24 Kotex Stick Tampons, Super

Box of 24 Kotex Stick Tampons, Super, Kimberly-Clark, USA, copyright 1986. Product "Contains no superabsorbent materials", reverse of pack includes information about Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS).

Stick tampons were introduced by Kimberly-Clark under the Kotams brand in 1960. Pushing to innovate to compete with its rivals, particularly market-leader Tampax, the company replaced the sliding cardboard tube applicator with a wooden lollipop-like stick and added a knotted double string for straightforward removal. Adverts from this era proclaimed it “The first really new tampon in 20 years!” and “Easier and daintier than ordinary tampons”.

Users failed to buy into the idea, however, reporting that the stick tended to bend, break, or become dislodged without the protection of a tube when the wrapped tampon was carried in a purse, and Kotams were withdrawn after just five years. Undeterred, Kimberly-Clark relaunched the stick tampon under the Kotex brand which remained on sale until the 1990s.

In 1982, the US government introduced new rules requiring warning labels on packaging after higher absorbency tampons were shown to be associated with an increased risk of developing toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a rare but life-threatening condition caused by bacterial infection.