Most middle school students across the country have been forced to sit through the awkward presentation about their changing bodies and how to deal with the hygiene issues that ensue.
I remember watching an outdated video and being handed a bag full of deodorant, sanitary napkins, and other small items that essentially acted as a “starter kit,” but apparently that’s a pretty modern public service. Looking back at how folks took care of themselves in the past makes me wonder how we ever survived beyond the Middle Ages, when infections ran rampant and no one understood why!
Even something as ordinary as taking a trip to the dentist was unheard of for centuries, with toothaches being taken care of either at home or, of all places, at the barber shop.
Take a look below to see 13 truly unhygienic trends from history and let us know in the comments if we missed any others.
1. Bloodletting With Germ-Ridden Leeches
If your “humors” were out of whack back in the day, this remedy was a go-to for physicians, who placed several of the icky critters on their patients’ skin and only removed them when they showed signs of wooziness or outright fainted. Of course, this unsanitary treatment often caused infections.
2. Barber Dentists
Dentistry was born in the barber’s chair, where clients requested the stylist take a gander at their aching teeth after trimming their locks, even having them pull any particularly painful ones with the germ-covered and rusty tools found right there in the salon.
3. Mousey Eyebrows
Women today plump their eyebrows up with various products. But ladies used to set traps for the disease-ridden mice scurrying around their homes every night. Then they applied thin swaths of mouse skin and fur to their brows to achieve the shape they desired in the morning.
4. Always Skipping Laundry Day
King James VI of Scotland went months without washing or changing his outfit, even sleeping fully dressed from hat to shoes. When someone did give their clothes the occasional wash, it was usually with mixtures using lye and urine.
5. Literal Bridal Showers
June became the most popular month for weddings not because of its typically sunny climate, but because it was soon enough after the traditional annual bathing in May that the bride and groom still looked their best. Brides began carrying bouquets to mask any smells that might pop up, too.
6. Moss Sanitary Napkins
Before pads and tampons came on the market, women dealing with their time of month grabbed whatever absorbent item they could get their hands on. Moss was one of the most common options.
7. Chicken Poo And Potassium Hair Tonic
Men were already concerned with losing their follicles back in the 17th century and believed this smelly combination was the cure.
8. Dirty Pokers For First Aid
Using cloth as bandages for wounds was apparently too weak-willed for those who instead singed their skin with hot metal rods. They were likely both unwashed and covered in germs from the fireplace and far more painful than the initial injury.
9. Chamber Pots
If you think it’s annoying to walk all the way to your toilet when the urge to go strikes you in the middle of the night, at least be glad you can flush it away rather than rely on one of these receptacles staying under your bed with all of those smells lingering with it.
Even worse, folks dumped the contents from their window right out onto the street.
10. Cesspits
Rather than throw their chamber pots’ contents onto the street (and potentially those walking along it), fancier folks had these holes in their backyards to do the job.
In one unfortunate case, a Roman emperor’s hall floor collapsed during a dinner party and several of the guests fell right into the cesspit, where some literally drowned in the filth.
11. Sulfuric Acid Mouthwash
For white teeth, authorities advised rubbing one’s chompers with powdered fish bones and rinsing them off with a nasty combination of vinegar and sulfuric acid, which stripped the enamel and only made them more susceptible to infection.
12. Urine Facewash
Another antiseptic in the Victorian era, you can still find some people these days who believe their bodily fluids will clear up their blemishes thanks to its popularity in the past.
13. Bathtime Hierarchy
If a home was lucky enough to have its own bathtub, the father got first dibs on the clean water, followed by any sons, then the wife. The rest of the female family members and infants all wallowed around in whatever gunk the ones before rinsed off.
Did we miss any horrifying hygiene practices from the past? Let us know below and be sure to Liked Video with your friends!
