The menstrual cup has had many aliases since its creation: the Diva Cup, June, and Cora, among others. As people increasingly swap out their disposable period products for sustainable alternatives, we should note where the idea originally came from.
And that leads us to Leona Chalmers. In 1937, the actress and author patented the first design of the menstrual cup, which used latex rubber. Following the shortage of the material during World War II, Chalmers rebranded the menstrual cup as the Tassette. However, it didn't achieve success back then, partially because of the rising popularity of the tampon combined with the hesitation around inserting a reusable menstrual product. In the late 1950s, the Tassette transformed into the disposable Tassaway cup to compete with similar products, but the company ended its business in the '70s. Although Chalmers's product didn't make it to the 21st century, her original design influenced brands that created similar products in the 1980s and beyond.
Image Source: Getty / Martina Cimermanová EyeEm Allchonok