The tampon, in its modern commercial form, was invented and patented by American physician Dr. Earle Haas in the early 1930s, and then brought to market by businesswoman Gertrude Tendrich under the Tampax brand.

Quick Scoop

  • The modern tampon with applicator was patented in 1931 by Dr. Earle Haas, an osteopathic physician from the United States.
  • Haas’s design used a compressed cotton plug and a cardboard applicator so users wouldn’t have to touch the absorbent material.
  • In 1933, he sold the patent and trademark to Gertrude Tendrich, who started producing and selling Tampax tampons and became the company’s first president.
  • Tampon‑like devices have existed for thousands of years, with records of papyrus in Ancient Egypt, wool in Rome, and other materials like paper, grass, and sponges across different cultures.
  • Non‑applicator tampons (the small digital type inserted with fingers) were later developed by German gynecologist Dr. Judith Esser‑Mittag in the mid‑20th century.

Who “invented the tampon”?

If you’re asking “who invented the tampon” in the sense of the product you see on store shelves today, most historians and medical sources point to Dr. Earle Haas. He applied for a patent for a “catamenial device” (a menstrual device) in 1931 and received U.S. Patent No. 1,926,900 in 1933, describing a cotton tampon inserted via two cardboard tubes.

But the story doesn’t end with Haas. Gertrude Tendrich bought his patent and trademark rights in 1933, began sewing and assembling tampons at home using his compression machine, and launched the Tampax brand in 1936, effectively creating the first large‑scale tampon business. In that sense, Haas is often credited as the inventor of the modern tampon, while Tendrich is seen as the entrepreneur who turned it into a widely available product.

Longer history in a nutshell

People were using tampon‑like solutions long before patents and brand names existed. Historical sources and modern summaries describe:

  • Ancient Egypt: use of softened papyrus as internal menstrual absorbents.
  • Ancient Greece and Rome: reports of lint wrapped around sticks or wool inserts.
  • East Asia and elsewhere: folded paper in Japan and natural sponges or plant fibers in other regions.

So while Haas did not invent the idea of an internal absorbent, he did create the first standardized, patented, mass‑market tampon with an applicator that looks recognizably “modern” today.

Key figures and what they did

  • Dr. Earle Haas – Patented the first modern applicator tampon in 1931; design included a cotton plug and cardboard applicator.
  • Gertrude Tendrich – Bought Haas’s patent and trademark in 1933, founded Tampax, and produced the first Tampax tampons commercially from her home before scaling up.
  • Dr. Judith Esser‑Mittag – Developed the non‑applicator tampon design in the 1940s, which Johnson & Johnson later acquired, shaping the “digital” tampons common in many countries.

Together, these names explain why the answer to “who invented the tampon” is historically layered: ancient users invented internal absorbents, Haas invented the modern applicator tampon, Tendrich commercialized it, and Esser‑Mittag shaped the non‑applicator style.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.