Images

Scheele’s Green

Everyday Life, Fashion, Home

Scheele’s Green, also known as copper arsenite, was the name of a green coloring that was used in everything from wallpaper 👩‍🎨 through dresses 👗to toys and candies. 🍭

Thanks to the unique, vibrant look it quickly became a very fashionable color. As you can imagine, the arsenic-loaded dye was very dangerous to people’s health, especially if digested or breathed in. ☠️☠️ The latter could occur as a result of, e.g., molding wallpaper which would release arsine gas.

The toxic nature of Scheele’s Green (and its chemical cousin Paris Green) was unknown to the general public until a series of mysterious deaths and illnesses caught the attention of a few chemists and doctors who then called for boycotting green products. Despite the growing awareness, arsenic-based dyes were in use until the end of the nineteenth century. 😱

See what other dangers waited for the Victorians in their own homes in the “Hidden Killers” documentary series.

Dr. Fahrney’s Teething Syrup

Everyday Life, Medicine

Dr. Fahrney’s Teething Syrup was one of the “miraculous” Victorian products that promised to cure everything from teething pain through the common cold to cholera and dysentery.

Advertised as medicine for babies, 👶 this concoction included alcohol, 🍸 morphine, 💉and chloroform😴.

 I came across this gem on this episode of Sawbones: Opium.

Unwrapping Party

Colonialism, Entertainment, Funerals, Medicine

The Egyptomania that took over Europe in the 19th century caused a few disturbing trends in society. One of them were so-called unwrapping parties, during which people would observe or even take part in unwrapping ancient mummies, stealing the valuables they could find, or even dissect what was left of the body for “souvenirs” or magic-like medicine. Such parties were supposedly happening in London.

While some scholars today question whether such parties really happened, we can be quite sure that at least one person – surgeon Thomas Pettigrew – was fond of such gatherings, turning them into bizarre shows.

Remember to check out Caitlin Doughty’s video on this topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVDo2tsJeXA

Thomas Dent Mütter

Medicine, Surgery

Doctor Thomas Dent Mütter was an exceptional surgeon 💉 who pioneered many techniques that helped burn victims and people with extreme deformities, labeled by others as lost causes and “monsters” (it was a medical term at the time! 😰).

Mütter himself suffered from several illnesses throughout his life, which made him very sympathetic to patients’ lot. He used to explain the procedures to patients and prepare them for surgeries both physically and mentally. He boasted to be one of the fasted surgeons in the U.S., an important feature in the pre-anesthesia times, and wrote a book on special techniques used during such surgeries. This didn’t prevent him from becoming the first surgeon to administer ether anesthesia in Philadelphia and adapt his methods over time according to the newest discoveries.

Mütter was also a colorful figure known for extravagant style and expression, something that Europeans loved about him and many Americans … not so much. Today he’s best known for an enormous collection of medical specimen and oddities you can visit in Philadelphia (I highly recommend it! 💀)

Check out this riveting biography for more outstanding stories from Mütter’s life: https://www.goodreads.com/…/20949450-dr-m-tter-s-marvels

Crape Veils

Everyday Life, Fashion, Funerals

Victorian mourning veils were popular accessories worn by grieving women. ⚰️ The veils could be as long as six feet and were traditionally made out of black crape, a scratchy fabric believed to be the most appropriate for mourning. 🖤

Unfortunately, some of the black dyes (like logwood dye) used in the production were quite poisonous, 🐍 causing a variety of ailments from light rashes to serious respiratory problems. Widows were especially affected by these dangers as the Victorian society expected them to wear crape veils for at least a year and a day during the so-called deep mourning stage.

You can check out an interesting article about Victorian mourning stages and mourning fashion here: https://www.racked.com/…/171…/19th-century-mourning-veil

Trains

Entertainment, Everyday Life

At the turn of the twentieth century, a new form of dangerous and very costly entertainment appeared… staged train crashes 🚂🚂 Thousands of Americans would appear at these events, watching the crashes and collecting “souvenirs” from the wrecks. ⚙️
This craze lasted for almost 40 years!

Check out this story about the most dangerous of these crashes: Atlas Obscura  😎

Crinoline

Everyday Life, Fashion

Crinolines 💃 were hugely popular in the second half of the 19th century, since their fairly light construction allowed women to play with fashion and big dress shapes without the need to carry the weight of several petticoats (as it was done earlier). This vast popularity of crinolines among women of all classes led to coining the word ‘crinolinemania’ and numerous caricatures in the media.

And while there were some hazards 😱 connected with wearing crinolines, especially in factories or near an open fire 🔥, they were definitely great at providing some personal space 😎

Wash Your Hands

Epidemiology, Famous Victorians, Medicine

While working in Vienna General Hospital in the 1840s, Ignaz Semmelweis noticed a curious thing – the mortality rate of new mothers was a lot higher in wards supervised by doctors 👨‍⚕️compared to those supervised by midwives 👩‍⚕️. After some investigating, he found the source of the problem – only doctors had access to both maternity wards and autopsy tables. Semmelweis quickly developed a theory of what he called “cadaverous particles” 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️ and introduced rigorous handwashing 🧼 in his clinics. Unfortunately, even though his method worked spectacularly well, he was ridiculed by most of the medical professionals until his death in a lunatic asylum. 💀