And you thought you’d heard it all. We went in pursuit of some trivial facts about menstruating.…
• In ancient Egypt, women used papyrus as tampons. In Greece, they used lint. In Rome, it was wool. The Japanese used paper, and Africans used rolls of grass.
• The first tampon with applicator was sold in the United States in 1936.
• A hundred years ago, the average age for getting your period was 14.8 years old. Now, it’s only 12 and a half!
• The average number of periods you’ll have in a lifetime is 480.
• In ancient Rome, it was believed that the touch of a menstruating woman caused crops to fail, seeds to dry, fruit to fall, bees to die and mirror surfaces to dim.
• Many American Indians believe a woman is at her psychic height during her period.
• The French, way back when, didn’t let women work in wineries. It was believed that, when menstruating, they would turn the wine into vinegar.
• In ancient times, many cultures believed menstruating women had positive supernatural powers. Their blood was said to protect men in battle, stop thunder and hurricanes, and serve as a good omen. Right on!