Fairgrove "home n' away" tampon caddy

Fairgrove "home n' away" tampon caddy in original packaging, white, with price sticker ($0.99), made in Hong Kong for Aluminum Housewares Company Inc., Hong Kong, China, 1985-1990

If you want full access to society when you are on your period – and that includes every aspect outside of the home from work to school, travel to socialising – you need to be able to carry spare menstrual products around with you.

This tampon caddy has the benefit of keeping tampons safe and clean in one spot in your bag, but the discreet nature of the all-white container suggests another purpose. Taboos surrounding menstruation in many cultures convey a sense of shame and encourage menstruators to hide anything to do with the process. However, contemporary discourse has begun to sway the outdated idea that periods need to be concealed or disguised and instead acknowledges that they are natural part of life for a large proportion of the population.