surrounding menstrual products. In 1940, Arne Gravdahl, who ran a transport business and general store in
Andebu, began producing modern menstrual pads. Gravdahl and Olav Breian began their business in a garage in Øvre Råel in what was then Sem municipality, about outside the city.–1988) from Røa in Oslo established the Saba factory in what had originally been a harpoon factory. In 1951, they began operations in a new building, but when it was destroyed by fire in 1952, a brick building with new machinery was constructed. In 1968, the family business was acquired by its Swedish competitor
Mölnlycke, a company based outside Gothenburg that was founded as a weaving mill in 1849. Saba had already entered into a partnership with Mölnlycke in 1960 for the exclusive right to sell the tampon brand
o.b. in Norway. In
Halden, technical and chemical products such as hair and skin care products, cleaning agents, adhesives and other products were manufactured. The company's general manager in 1988 was
Trygve Nagel-Johansen.
Products In 1954, the Tønsberg factory developed the Saba de-Luxe – "the menstrual pad with cotton". It was a menstrual pad with defibrated
cellulose and cotton and was significantly better than competitors' products. The innovations led to increased sales, from 400,000 10-packs in 1954 to about 4.5 million 10-packs in 1960, and the business grew with new products and larger facilities. Other types of menstrual pads included thin
pantyliners and thicker types for nighttime use. Until the 1960s, menstruation was regarded as a
highly private matter that was inappropriate to talk about in public. In the 1950s, feminine hygiene products were not usually displayed in shops, but instead sold discreetly under the counter. Some even tore off the labels and wrapped the products in grey paper. Originally the sale of tampons in Norway was forbidden for fear of health risks, but the law was repealed in the late 1950s. Until then, pads had mostly been sold in pharmacies and women's clothing stores, but they were becoming more familiar and commonly sold in Norwegian grocery stores. In 1979 the annual revenue was NOK 370 million, a threefold increase in six years. Saba Mølnlycke had a total revenue of NOK 21 billion and 21,315 employees in 1988. == Essity ==