20 Gross Vintage Hygiene Trends

[Music] facts verse presents 20 gross vintage hygiene trends before we get started make sure you subscribe and click that notification bell so you can stay up to date with all of our videos bad hygiene can be an instant repellent for the people around you not to mention detrimental to your health luckily with the fast progress of science and education nowadays everybody is familiar with the importance of practicing good hygiene however people in the past weren't as knowledgeable as we are today when it comes to hygiene in fact past generations made lots of mistakes in the name of hygiene which were as dangerous as disgusting no wonder they barely made it past the age of 30. here are some of the grossest hygiene trends throughout the history of humankind 1. there was no toilet paper before the invention of toilet paper different civilizations used different techniques to clean up for instance native americans used a variety of objects ranging from seashells to twigs the ancient greeks used pieces of clay while the ancient japanese used small sticks that were called chugi 2. public bath houses public baths were the reality for a large number of people back in the day since only a few could afford to have the luxury of their own bathroom people were forced to bathe in one of their local bath houses imagine having to share your bathtub with your next door neighbor 3. bathing in the same water sure having a bathroom in your house was considered a luxury but even then family members would have to bathe in the same water since heating water took a very long time oftentimes family members used the same tub of hot water for everybody they would usually go one after the other starting from eldest to youngest 4. teeth worms were a thing or so they thought whenever somebody suffered from a toothache it was a common belief that the pain was caused by worms in the teeth physicians tried to remedy this issue by filling the patient's mouth with candle smoke it comes as no surprise that this method was far from effective 5. the baldness elixir during the dark ages the author by the name of peter levins claimed to have discovered a cure for baldness in a book discovered in london levin stated that rubbing his mixture on your scalp would regrow your hair his miraculous solution consisted of chicken poop mixed with potassium salts not the most hygienic or effective for that matter 6. leeches one of the most famous healing methods of the past is the use of leeches back then medics believe that most illnesses are caused by having too much blood they tried to remedy this by having leeches extract blood from their patients 7. groom of the stool another weird hygiene trend of the past is that rulers would often have a person that was responsible for wiping their behind for them this prestigious position was known as the groom of the stool you might think that this position was ranked fairly low in the royal court but it was quite the opposite due to the intimate nature of the act the groom of the stool had access to top secret information and needed to be very trustworthy the grooms were well respected and often feared 8. cauterizing wounds cauterization was a practice used during medieval times to stop the bleeding of wounds and amputations it was performed by placing heated metal directly on open wounds and while it was highly effective it was also excruciatingly painful it would prevent infection successfully but it would also leave the tissue damaged beyond repair 9. contraception in ancient times according to ancient egyptian documents that date back to approximately 1850 bc egyptian women were using a one-of-a-kind contraception method they used a small pessary that was made from crocodile dung and was inserted into the vagina modern scientists claim that crocodile dung is somewhat alkaline and helps increase the acidic ph levels in the vagina and therefore increases the likelihood of pregnancy 10. lead-based makeup in the past white skin was a symbol of status and beauty darker skin on the other hand was associated with hard labor in the sun and peasantry women who wanted to comply with beauty standards often used lead-based lighteners to whiten their skin these dangerous products were easily available at the time while nowadays we know that lead contains high levels of arsenic and is therefore poisonous 11. chalk was on the menu many women would allegedly consume chalk to achieve this effect their logic behind this practice was that by eating chalk they would feel ill and look paler this condition is known by the term geophagia which is the practice of eating chalk-like substances the condition goes way back in history and even the predecessor of homo sapiens homo habilis would eat chalk 12. urine was an antiseptic during the middle ages urine was widely used as an antiseptic while some people claim that urine can be used as an antiseptic since it is sterile urine does contain bacteria a sick person's urine will have a high bacteria count 13. no utensils before the invention of utensils people used to eat only with their hands considering the many bad hygiene habits that people had in the past their hands were probably not very clean to begin with utensils became a regular thing in europe in the 16th century 14. teeth selling aristocrats and rich folk would often suffer from rotting teeth since they could afford to splurge on a sugar-rich diet to replace their missing teeth they could purchase false ones but they preferred to buy real teeth poor people would resort to selling their healthy teeth on desperate occasions and the rich would take advantage 15. doctors never wash their hands before procedures perhaps the absolute worst hygiene trend in the past is that doctors never wash their hands before treating a patient dealing with open sores and operations with unwashed hands would lead to many infections and untimely deaths in the past hand disinfecting was first introduced by a hungarian doctor called ignaz semelweis in 1846. at first he was mocked by his contemporaries but after louis pasteur made his discovery he was widely acknowledged 16. pupil enlargement another dangerous trend to achieve beauty was to use the belladonna plant for dilated pupils and flushed cheeks suffice it to say women during the middle ages went to great extents to appease the beauty standard today it's known that the belladonna plant is toxic when ingested or when a person has had high exposure to the plant allegedly roman nobles would often use the plant to murder their opponents 17. cancerous hair removal the discovery of x-rays in 1895 was revolutionary for science however a side effect of exposure to electromagnetic radiation is permanent hair removal a new york medic by the name of albert c geyser saw this as an opportunity to make a profit he launched the trico institute where he trained beauticians on how to use x-ray machines and he would lease the machines to them women were getting exposed to x-rays to remove facial hair but it was soon found that x-rays are cancerous 18. teeth blackening today a white healthy smile is perfection but an ancient asian custom suggests otherwise in japan and vietnam black teeth were achieved with a practice called ohaguro which was done by painting your teeth with a range of chemicals and the result was black teeth with a glossy finish the paint or lacquer was sealing the teeth and therefore preventing tooth decay ohaguro helped to preserve teeth for old age this procedure was banned in japan but is still in practice in some small communities 19. radium at the beginning of the 20th century people highly believed in the healing powers of radium from blindness to asthma radium could cure it all radium was in the ingredient list of many mass-produced products whether it was cosmetics or food just adding the word radium would help you boost sales a few years later the demise of five women that worked at the united states radium corporation unveiled the ugly truth about radium when it was discovered that radium causes cancer its popularity decreased drastically 20. servants covered in honey ancient egyptians had some unique ideas when it came to keeping the pharaoh happy to stop surrounding insects from bothering the pharaoh they would slather his servants with honey which would attract flies to them this way the pharaoh didn't have to waste his energy with waving flies away on the bright side honey has incredible antibacterial properties so maybe those servants had the best skin in all ancient egypt let us know in the comments below which was the most shocking hygiene trend from the past if you liked our video please subscribe to facts first for more videos you

Channel: Facts Verse

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Keywords: vintage hygiene tips, vintage hygiene tips that are no longer acceptable, old hygiene methods from the past, hygiene in the old west, ancient cleaning methods, gross hygiene practices, how our ancestors cleaned, how the romans cleaned themselves, hygiene in the middle ages, hygiene practices, medieval hygiene, gross hygiene practices from the past, 20 gross vintage hygiene, 20 gross vintage hygiene trends, wild west hygiene, gross medieval hygiene practices, facts verse

Id: 2RTQa_V8YO8

Length: 8min 28sec (508 seconds)

Published: Sun May 03 2020