Posted by La Demoiselle on July 10, 1997 at 07:57:28:
In reply to Re: Hygiene... posted by Caroline on July 09, 1997 at 14:13:25
Rita has put up some links about bathing lower down which are interesting. I have loads of notes, too.So where do you want to start? I am going to say that I believe people were a lot cleaner than some people assume. They cleaned thier houses regularly,(sometimes excessively, almost) they kept thier clothes clean,they DID bathe, they did clean thier teeth,they had methods of dealing with fleas and other pests.(that topic could be quite gruesome, if you want to persue it!)They also complained if other people stank, though whether they were more tolerant of personal smells than we are today, I do not know.
Where do we go from here?
To start, I think it is best to start at the beginning. I haven't had time as yet to check out all of Rita's links...
It is quite interesting that you say they are quite cleaner than what we assume. Excuse my ignorance...but, like some other people, I assumed that the period from 16th century(or before) to the mid or late 19th century was the period when people rarely bathed. That is why I know the Franch for example invented perfume to hide bad body odors...
I'm OK about pursuing all the topics, even if they seem rather gruesome (fleas, lice and such...), but it is for the scholarly good! :-) It is good to know as much as possible...that way one does not stay in ingnorance of all the historical facts...
By the time of the Regency Period, do you think that the English had gotten some French influence and used perfume at all?
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