But it wasn’t until 1929 that a physician named Dr. Earle Haas patented and invented the modern-day tampon (with applicator). He came up with the idea during a trip to California, where a friend told him how she was able to improvise a more comfortable and effective alternative to the commonly used and bulky external pads by simply inserting a piece of sponge on the inside, rather than outside. At the time, doctors were using plugs of cotton to staunch secretions and so he suspected a compressed form of cotton would absorb just as well.After a bit of experimenting, he settled on a design that featured a tightly bound strip of absorbent cotton attached to a string to allow for easy removal. To keep the tampon clean, the cotton came with an applicator tube that extended to push the cotton into place without the user having to touch it.
Haas filed for his first tampon patent on November 19, 1931, and originally described it as a "catamenial device," a term derived from the Greek word for monthly. The product name “Tampax,” which originated from “tampon” and “vaginal packs,” was also trademarked and later sold to businesswoman Gertrude Tendrich for $32,000. She would go on to form the Tampax company and begin mass production. Within a few years, the Tampax arrived on store shelves and by 1949 appeared in more than 50 magazines.
During the Civil War, one of the accoutrements for the Springfield and Enfield rifled muskets was the "tampion," (or "tompion"), a wooden or cork plug inserted into the muzzle to keep water and dirt out of the barrel.