Box of 10 Shampon Young tampons with applicator sticks

Box of 10 Shampon Young tampons with applicator sticks, L Long Time, with price sticker (¥360), JEX Co. Ltd., Japan, 1977

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.

This pack of Japanese Shampon Young branded tampons from 1977 contains digital tampons individually encased in foil blister packs, with a separate strip of cellophane wrapped sticks. Like their Kotex counterparts, the tampons have an indent at their base enabling the end of the stick to be inserted and used to guide the tampon into place.