I have to be honest before I say another word about the ad above. I am a male and therefore know nothing about menstrual cramps and the pain and discomfort they bring. I am not a doctor or chemist, so I don't know if taking ferrous sulfate (which is the main ingredient in this menstrual/menopause medicine) is any good for anyone.
Interesting fact: until the Pure Food And Drug Act of 1906 made them stop, the makers of this nostrum claimed that it was "A sure cure for PROLAPSUS UTERI, or falling of the womb and all FEMALE WEAKNESSES including leucorrhoea, irregular and painful menstruation, inflammation and ulceration of the womb, flooding,...for all weaknesses of the generative organs of either sex, it is second to no remedy that has ever been before the public, and for all diseases of the kidneys it is the GREATEST REMEDY IN THE WORLD."
And they failed to point out that it contained somewhere between 15 - 20% alcohol! So OF COURSE it made people feel better!
Nope, none of my beeswax (which would probably help cure a host of ailments, for what it's worth.) I just remain aghast at the ads I see that showed the complete home address of women who wrote to the Pinkham company and gave full details about how much better they and their daughters were doing since they introduced Lydia E. Pinkham into their daily pharmacological menu.
"I have a daughter seventeen years old. She was irregular, nervous, and tired." So she started taking your tablets and now look how happy she is! And we're sure none of the guys she goes to school with will ever read this ad and/or tease her about it.
And for women at the other end of the change-of-life cycle, well, here are a few more satisfied customers...
Again, I don't have any way to judge the efficacy of this product, but I do worry that Lucille Hoeck was tormented unmercifully by the boys in her school. I hope she got over it. Maybe Mrs Pinkham had a cure for embarrassment in her bag o' tricks.
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