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From 1945 to 1951, Disney produced a series of educational films to be shown in American schools. How to bathe an infant. How not to catch a cold. Why you shouldn’t drive fast. Disney covered these subjects in its educational shorts, and then eventually got to the touchy subject of biology and se*uality. If there was ever a co*pany suited to talk about “vaginas” in the 1940s in a family-friendly way, it was Disney. Hence The Story of Menstruation.

The film runs 10 minutes, co*bining scientific facts with hygiene tips, and it was actually co*missioned by the International Cello-Cotton co*pany, the forerunner of Kimberly-Clark, the maker of Kotex products. An estimated 105 million students watched the film in se*-ed classes across the US. And, according to Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney co*pany from the Inside Out, the film remained a mainstay in schools until the 1960s. It’s now in the public domain. When you’re done, you’ll also want to watch Family Planning, Walt Disney’s 1967 se* Ed Production, Starring Donald Duck.

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Related Content:

Watch Family Planning, Walt Disney’s 1967 se* Ed Production, Starring Donald Duck

No Women Need Apply: A Disheartening 1938 Rejection Letter from Disney Animation

Your Body During Adolescence: A Nakedly Unashamed se* Ed Film from 1955

Watch Dating Dos and Don’ts: An Old-School Instructional Guide to Teenage Romance (1949)