Certane Hygienic Douche Powder

Object Details

Vogarell Products Company

Description: In 1930, Rosemarie Lewis established the Certane Company to produce "feminine hygiene" products in Los Angeles, California. "Feminine hygiene" was a code term used by marketers for women's contraceptive products at a time when dealing in these products was illegal in most of the U.S. Lewis's first products were antiseptic vaginal jellies and douche powders, but she soon added cervical caps, diaphragms, and vaginal suppositories (cones) to the Certane line. Lewis sold her products through drugstores and other retail outlets and mail-order. She was investigated by the Federal Trade Ccommission (FTC) in 1938 and charged with false and misleading advertising. She was charged again in 1942 by the U.S. Postal Service for conducting unlawful business (selling contraceptives) through the mail. By 1948, Rosemarie Lewis began doing business as the Vogarell Products Company, the maker name on this product. In the 1950's Vogarell added Lanacane skin ointment for acne and Hemex rectal ointment to the product line. Certane douche powder, vaginal jelly, and vaginal suppositories appear to have remained on the market through the 1960s, and Lewis continued to do business as Vogarell into the early 1980s.; Reference: Tone, Andrea. Devices and Desires: A History of Contraceptives in America. New York: Hill and Wang, 2001.
Location: Currently not on view

Physical Description: boric acid; sodium chloride; sodium sulfo dioctyl succinate; oxyquinoline sulphate (product active ingredients); metal; paper (container material)
Measurements: overall: 3 in x 2 3/8 in x 2 in; 7.62 cm x 6.0325 cm x 5.08 cm

See more items in: Medicine and Science: Medicine; Health & Medicine; Beauty and Hygiene Products: Feminine Care; Beauty and Health

National Museum of American History

Subject: Women's Health; Feminine hygiene products; Birth Control/Contraception

GUID (Link to Original Record): https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-6315-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa