Z At the beginning of the 20th century, menstruation was regarded as unclean and a private matter, even as a disease. Menstruating women sewed their own pads from scraps of fabric, which were held in place with the help of special belts. Or they rolled cotton pads into tampon form to catch the bleeding. Most often it was men who developed unhelpful menstrual cups made of hard rubber or even aluminum. Only gradually did the first disposable pads come onto the market.
At the same time, the social status of women slowly changed. With the shortage of men after World War I, more and more women entered the workforce. In 1918, Germany introduced women’s suffrage; in the United States it followed in 1920.
During this period, American actress Leona Watson Chalmers lived, who had earned her first major Broadway role in 1909. Amid work stress and performances in white silk dresses, she looked for a solution for dealing with her period—and promptly developed one herself.
The menstruation cup she designed was made of vulcanized rubber. The material is softer and more flexible than hard rubber and aluminum. She called the cup Tassette and brought it to market in 1937.
Leona Chalmers gilt als Mutter der Menstruationstasse, ihre Erfindung setzte sich vor 90 Jahren aber nicht durch. Heute boomt das Geschäft 👉🏻 .de/!6123577/ #Menstruation #Periode #Frauengesundheit
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— (@.de) 5. Dezember 2025 um 15:11
She marketed her menstrual cups with the line: “It took a woman to ease women’s most trying ordeal”, that is: “It took a woman to help women in their hardest test.” But that was not all. Chalmers addressed topics that at the time were discussed only behind closed doors, such as sexually transmitted diseases, discharge, and unpleasant odors. She also wrote books in which she dealt with topics of female hygiene and menstruation. Since she herself did not have sufficient expertise, she consulted with doctors.
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The Cotton Plug Prevails
Indeed, the menstrual cup failed because of its best features. On one hand, World War II broke out and made rubber a rarity for production in the United States. On the other hand, the tampon appeared on the market in 1936, just a year earlier.
It became increasingly popular during World War II because it allowed menstruating people to remain available as workers. Moreover, tampon manufacturers—companies with more capital than Leona Chalmers’ small enterprise—were promoting it. Disposable became fashionable and the cotton plug prevailed over the reusable product.
Nevertheless, today the menstrual cup is one of the most popular menstrual products in Germany. The cup is, in addition to silicone and thermoplastic elastomer, often still made from the rubber that Chalmers used. After decades of tampon dominance, users now seem to appreciate the advantages of the cup: it is cost-effective, sustainable, and provides a good sense of bodily comfort. Chalmers sparked this development—and was almost a century ahead of her time.
