How much do you know about the history of panties and menstruation. Take our quiz below to find out…
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The earliest form of underpants were:
Question 1 Explanation:. Loincloths. Worn throughout the world in many different forms, loincloths in many cultures weren't just an undergarment, they were the only garment a person might wear!
Underpants of Ancient Rome were called:
Question 2 Explanation:Subligaculum. This was generally a piece of cloth that was carefully folded and bound several times to make what looked like a pair of shorts. (If you know your Latin, you’ll know that the other words are completely unrelated to the topic at hand!)
In this 1900 British ad for "hygienic towelettes," "wood-wool" refers to...
Question 3 Explanation:Rayon, which is manufactured from wood (cellulose). The word ‘wool’ here refers to the texture of the rayon rather than the origin. Rayon is much more absorbent than cotton or lambs’ wool, so more appropriate to the task here. And we don’t even like to think about sitting on a sheet of sawdust!
During Medieval times in Europe, it was common to wash one's underwear:
Question 4 Explanation:D. Only a few times a year! Underwear became extremely dirty, full of sweat, and alive with little bugs (because people hardly bathed, either) - but it still helped to protect people’s outer clothes from the smell and dirt of their own bodies.
Which of the following was NOT an undergarment worn by women in Elizabethan England?
Question 5 Explanation:D. Although the undergarments of wealthy Elizabethan women sometimes resembled birdcages (both literally and figuratively), they were not called that. A "farthingale" (also called verdingale) was a wooden hoop (often made of willow branches) worn under a skirt to create a cone shape; "panniers" (the French word for "baskets") were worn on each hip to make a skirt stick out on the sides; and a "bum roll" was just what it sounds like: a thick roll that went around a lady's waist and tied in the front, serving to make her skirt much wider at the top.
The cage crinoline, a women's hoop skirt invented in 1856, would make a dress:
Question 6 Explanation:A. Up to six feet wide! The crinoline was an underskirt (petticoat) that was formed into a stiff shape using a cage made of whalebone or steel. Believe it or not, this was a big improvement from previous hooped petticoats, which were much heavier! However, moving in a crinoline skirt was very difficult and even dangerous!
Why did woolen long underwear become popular in the US in the late 19th century?
Question 7 Explanation:D. Dr. Gustave Jaeger, a German professor and inventor of the "Sanitary Woollen System" of long underwear, believed that pure animal fibers would prevent (or even cure) every health problem by "preventing the retention of the noxious exhalations of the body."
Long underwear has a buttoned flap in the back in order to "ease" visits to the toilet. This flap was known commonly as all but which of the following?
Question 8 Explanation:B. It had many nicknames, also including "trap door," but "poopy pocket" was not one of them, as far as the author of this quiz knows!
Until the mid-1800s, in the United States, women usually wore heavy petticoats under their long skirts because:
Question 9 Explanation:D. It was mostly for warmth. During that time period, women didn't wear any type of underpants because it was considered scandalous for a real lady to have anything at all between her legs. As for option B, the extra skirts (which were never washed) certainly did touch the floor, sweeping up little critters, bacteria, and who knows what else, but that was just one of their many truly undesirable qualities. By the way, X-Rays weren't invented until 1896, but some women did worry that this new technology could impinge on their modesty, leading a few entrepreneurs to successfully market x-ray-proof lead undergarments!
Elizabeth Smith Miller is best known for:
Question 10 Explanation:A. "Libby" Smith, along with her friend, Amelia Bloomer, was a participant in the great debate on "Dress Reform." In 1851, Bloomer introduced Smith's newfangled ladies' garment, consisting of baggy Turkish-style pants underneath with a short but full skirt on top, to the forward-thinking women who were involved in both the Temperance and Women's Rights movements.
In 1946, Louis Reard named his tiny new swimsuit the "bikini" in honor of the Bikini Atoll, because he said both the garment and the chain of islands were associated with something
Question 11 Explanation:. Explosive! He thought that the bikini would provoke the same earth-shattering reaction as the experimental atom bombs which were being tested in the South Pacific islands known as “Bikini Atoll” at that time. (Maybe not quite as explosive, though, as no Bikini Atoll... that is, “no bikini at-all!”)
"Lingerie" is a French word meaning:
Question 12 Explanation:C. "Linen goods"
In the presence of menstrual blood,
Question 13 Explanation:D. These are just a few of the very silly myths that have been perpetrated over the years regarding women’s menstruation. Fortunately, all of these myths (and others like them) are completely false!
Spandex, a synthetic elastic fiber which revolutionized the underwear industry, was invented in:
Question 14 Explanation:B. 1959. It also revolutionized clothing in general!
During which war did wadding cotton come to be commonly used by nurses as sanitary pads?
Question 15 Explanation:B. World War I. Military nurses and others tending to the wounded found that the new soft wadding "cotton" (actually cellulose) used to absorb blood from injuries worked just as well for absorbing menstrual fluid. The wadding cotton saved many mens' lives during World War I.
The brand name "Kotex" comes from:
Question 16 Explanation:B. Kotten-like Texture. Yes, it's a mispelling! But not a misnomer, as it refers to the rayon “wadding cotton” used in wound dressings, which was soft as cotton without actually being cotton. The makers of Kotex sanitary pads thought that using this name for sanitary products (in the 1920s) would make women less embarrassed to ask for the product at a store, as the name was also associated with those same wound dressings used after battles.
One of the very first Kotex magazine ads featured a picture of a sophisticated woman and was headlined:
Question 17 Explanation:D. "In the Wardrobe of Her Royal Daintiness." The idea of creating or maintaining “daintiness” was a common theme for advertising sanitary pads during the 1920s.
The first sanitary napkins didn't sell well in the USA until:
Before adhesive pads were invented in the 1970s, how were sanitary napkins worn?
Question 19 Explanation:B. with a belt
Identify the following items from the Sears Roebuck catalog of 1914:
Question 20 Explanation:C. These “sanitary aprons” were made of rubber-covered cotton and were meant to be worn “backwards” to protect a woman’s skirt from menstrual fluid while she was seated. Furthermore, she would need to pin a light layer of absorbent material (such as a diaper!) to the apron!
Sears offered at the same time a nifty traveling kit for menstruation (below), consisting of a simple apron, together with several washable menstrual pads and belts, and a waterproof pouch to carry used pads so they could be washed when the traveler returned home.
See the Museum of Menstruation and Women's Health website for more info and pictures on the history of menstruation. (www.mum.org/InsideMUM4.htm)
The menstrual cycle is closely connected to all of the following hormones except:
Question 21 Explanation:A. Although women’s bodies produce a tiny bit of testosterone (about 1/20th of the amount that men’s bodies do), this hormone doesn’t affect the menstrual cycle.
(If you want details, here’s how it really works: during each cycle, follicle-stimulating hormone causes about 15-20 eggs to start maturing in each ovary. Each follicle, which encases its own egg, produces estrogen. The higher levels of estrogen trigger an abrupt surge of yet another hormone, luteinizing hormone, which causes one of the eggs to burst through the ovarian wall, rendering a woman “fertile.” The egg’s follicle collapses and begins to release progesterone, which prevents the rest of the eggs from being released during that cycle, protecting the woman from becoming pregnant more than once during a cycle. Progesterone also causes the endometrium, or lining of the uterus, to thicken in preparation for receiving a fertilized egg, if that should occur. If not, this lining is shed in about 12-16 days, through menstrual flow.)
In Kenya, how many girls miss school each month during their periods due to lack of money for underwear & sanitary pads?
Question 22 Explanation:D. Each month 868,000 Kenyan girls miss school due to lack of an affordable sanitary pad.
Kenyan girls miss ___ learning days per month due to lack of an affordable sanitary pad.
Question 23 Explanation:d. Every month Kenyan girls miss 3.5 million potential learning due to lack of an affordable sanitary pad. This means each girl misses 2 months of school per year. We believe ensuring menstruating school girls have sanitary pads is a basic human rights issue
The average woman produces _ lbs of waste in sanitary pads and other feminine hygiene products each year.
Question 24 Explanation:D. Each woman creates about 7 lbs (3.5kg) of waste in sanitary pads and other feminine hygiene products each year- severely harming our planet's fragile eco-system. Check out our website's section "managing menstruation" to see what ZanaA's doing about it.
What is the Swahili word for "underwear?"
Question 25 Explanation:A. Chupi
There are 25 questions to complete.
Your answers are highlighted below.
| Question 1 |
| LOINCLOTHS | |
| CULOTTES | |
| KILTS | |
| PETTICOATS |
| Question 2 |
| SUBLIGACULUM | |
| PALUDAMENTUM | |
| EPITHALANTHIUM | |
| IMPENDIUM |
| Question 3 |
In this 1900 British ad for "hygienic towelettes," "wood-wool" refers to...| SAWDUST | |
| LAMB'S WOOL | |
| RAYON (VISCOSE) | |
| COTTON-WOOL BLEND |
| Question 4 |
| On one's birthday | |
| Every Saturday before the Lord's day | |
| While swimming or bathing | |
| A few times a year |
| Question 5 |
| Panniers | |
| Farthingale | |
| Bum Roll | |
| Birdcage |
| Question 6 |
| 6 feet wide | |
| 8 feet wide | |
| 10 feet wide | |
| 12 feet wide |
| Question 7 |
| President Rutherford B Hayes wore it | |
| It was humorously depicted in early cartoon strips | |
| Sheep farmers launched a campaign for modesty and economy | |
| It was though to hold in body warmth while letting out noxious exhalations |
| Question 8 |
| Drop seat | |
| Poopy pocket | |
| Access hatch | |
| Fireman's flap |
| Question 9 |
| They had no other place to keep them | |
| The extra skirts helped with the housework by sweeping up dirt, dust, bugs and other trash. | |
| They though that x-ray technology could not penetrate more than one layer of clothing | |
| The many layers helped keep them warm, as genteel ladies did not wear panties |
| Question 10 |
| Inventing bloomers | |
| Encouraging women to burn their bras | |
| Campaigning to change the word "menstruation" to "womenstruation" | |
| Sending a box of tampons to the Queen of England |
| Question 11 |
| Itsy-bitsy | |
| Provocative | |
| Explosive | |
| Stringy |
| Question 12 |
| Luxury garment | |
| Lace-lined | |
| Linen goods | |
| Lingering fragrance |
| Question 13 |
| Bees will fly away from their hives and cornstalks will wither | |
| Men's hair will turn grey and their vigor will be lost | |
| Wine will turn to vinegar and beer will go flat | |
| None of the above |
| Question 14 |
| 1949 | |
| 1959 | |
| 1969 | |
| 1979 |
| Question 15 |
| The 100 Year's War | |
| WWI | |
| WWII | |
| The Korean War |
| Question 16 |
| "Kollecting" the excretion | |
| Kotten-like texture | |
| Klean organic textile | |
| Kirkus Operations, Texas |
| Question 17 |
| For the Beauty of a Woman | |
| "Charming and elegant everyday of her life" | |
| "And they call this a curse" | |
| "in the wardrobe of her royal daintiness" |
| Question 18 |
| Women were allowed to self-serve at drugstores by placing money in a box and taking a package from a concealed area | |
| Drugstores began hiring more female clerks | |
| Manufacturers included an instructional booklet with explanations for men | |
| They came with replica autographs and endorsements from actresses such as Mae West and Mary Pickford |
| Question 19 |
| With a diaper | |
| With a belt | |
| With an apron | |
| With briefs |
| Question 20 |
| Hygiene slips | |
| Crinoline skirts | |
| Sanitary aprons | |
| Menstrual smocks |
| Question 21 |
| Testosterone | |
| Estrogen | |
| Follicle stimulating hormone | |
| Progesterone |
| Question 22 |
| Over 400,000 | |
| Over 500,000 | |
| Over 600,000 | |
| Over 800,000 |
| Question 23 |
| About 900,000 | |
| About 1.5 million | |
| About 2.5 million | |
| About 3.5 million |
| Question 24 |
| 2 | |
| 3 | |
| 5 | |
| 7 |
| Question 25 |
| Chupi | |
| Jamba | |
| Choo | |
| Nusu Mbwa |
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