In the Victorian era, Johnson and Johnson company introduced a disposable gauze and cotton pad product named Lister's Towels. The problem of advertising remained. Many stores wouldn't stock them, or they were hidden beneath the counter and the customer was required to ask discreetly for the product. But the W.W.I. nurses were returning to civilian life, and word of mouth spread the news of this amazing consumer product. Within twenty years, disposable paper-based menstrual products were the norm for the majority of women in the western world.
Tampons also have several thousand years of historical use.
After the popularity of commercial pads began to rise, it was only natural that Dr. Earle Hoos, a Denver physician, would try to market his tampon product, which he named Tampax in 1936. The original Tampax tampon was made of cylindrically rolled cotton with a string attached. After W.W.II, tampon manufacturers began to add synthetic fibers to increase the tampon's leakage protection and absorbency. Again, many of these fibers are by-products of wood pulp and cellulose productions. Up until the introduction of Rely, there had never been a serious claim of tampon injury.