Box containing one Stayfree Maxi-Pad beltless feminine napkin

Box containing one Stayfree Maxi-Pad beltless feminine napkin (menstrual pad), "NO BELTS! NO PINS! automatically adhere to underwear", Personal Products Company, distributed by Rochester Midland Corp., Rochester, New York, 1972-1979

Before self-adhesive menstrual pads appeared in 1969, pads were secured with belts. Comprised of elastic, these were worn around the waist with tabs or hooks at the front and back for attaching a sanitary towel between the legs. The garments all but disappeared when new 'beltless' pads Stayfree – which could be adhered directly to underwear – were launched. Originally invented as an incontinence product in the mid-1960s, self-adhesive pads took the menstrual product market by storm. “Goodbye belts, pins and fuss”, proclaimed ads from the era.