How did women get along without pads and tampons before? Were they in the USSR? How do everyday ones differ from some kind of special gaskets?

There were pads for all types of droplets and tampaks in the USSR, but women in the highest echelons of power, who had money, cronyism and other benefits, had all this. A simple woman, of the working class, was content with rags, which were reusable for these critical days, gauze with cotton wool inside, popularly called "kvachami"

A piece of cotton wool is wrapped in a piece of washed white cotton rag (gauze) so that the cotton wool does not fall out, pinned to the panties with a pin. Take two or three such blanks to school in a bag. ......... To forget, like a bad dream, like "Leningradskaya Pravda" in a country toilet.

In the USSR (according to the stories of mother and grandmother), there were no pads and tampons on sale. At least where my venerable relatives lived.
Women got out in different ways. For example, the gasket was made by gently wrapping cotton wool in a bandage, giving the desired shape. Tampons also, just a little smaller and a different shape again. Naturally, all this had to be changed much more often, because such structures had weak absorbent properties.
The first pads that appeared on sale, by the way, did not absorb very well, did not have a sticky surface and tended to crawl away when walking anywhere it is necessary.

Everyday is thin, they absorb very little and are not intended for that. "Special" is, apparently, the very same olways with wings from advertising are meant. They have a principle of action almost like a diaper, do not let liquids out, and a similar filling. Wings - stick to underwear so that when walking, sitting, etc. she didn’t accidentally crumple and didn’t let anything out.