Cause A Frockus

The Story of Clean

Dec 22, 2014 | by Ellen Dial

A majority of Americans bathe daily, many twice a day – though our climate controlled environment and primarily sedentary lifestyle doesn’t really warrant such frequent and diligent bathing. Many wash their hair every day.

In addition to all this cleaning, we anoint ourselves with all manner of scented and anti-stink products. We scrub and exfoliate. We denude ourselves of unwanted body hair. Disinfect all available surfaces and slather antibacterial gel on our hands with wild abandon. Teeth are brushed and bleached to paper white perfection. Our homes are expected to be germ and odor free.

We are gorgeously clean. Nary an unpleasant odor abounds. We sparkle and glow. A veritable bouquet of sweetness follows us as we pass through our days. We smell marvelous. With all that said, how did we get here? Enjoy the journey into the story of clean.

Give Up the Funk | The Big Stink

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”

Well, not so much for our early ancestors. Not to spend too much time back in this stench filled miasma – but up until the early/mid 19th century? We smelled. Stunk. We were really funky. Bathing was considered unhealthy and downright ungodly. In fact, physicians advised against it. Fleas and lice occasionally shared our beds and wardrobes. Our clothes could stand up in the corner on their own. And oral hygiene? Um, no, not as we practice it. People wore a lot of perfume, not so they would smell better? But so they couldn’t smell the filthy bodies around them! Seriously. Everything and everyone stank.

Back in college, an Art History professor told us that Michelangelo didn’t bathe or change clothes the entire time he worked on the Sistine Chapel, his boots grew to his feet. Some women in 19th century France bragged that they had NEVER bathed. I have no words.

To be fair, indoor plumbing was scarce in the western world. Total immersion baths were a huge production, as was laundry day – water had to be hauled and heated, then tubs had to be emptied by hand, etc… Early medicine was a nightmare, ignorance abounded and germ theory? Nope. As a side note, eastern cultures were typically cleaner, they thought westerners were dirty beasts, and they were right. Christianity is the only major religion that does not include bathing and cleanliness in it’s teachings. Even the ancient Egyptians had plumbing and public baths – our ancestors during this time were pretty much living in filth.

We were awesome!

The upper/ruling classes were somewhat cleaner than the lower classes (Henry VIII is reputed to have smelled of sweat, the stable and feet. Not the sexy image we have of him today!) – but bathing was still not viewed as a healthful habit. Keep this little nugget of knowledge in mind as you snuggle down with your favorite historical romance – not to be a total buzz kill, but the smell…..

Give Up the Funk| The de-Funkifying of America

In England, the dandy Beau Brummell praised washing and donning clean linen [undergarments] each day – inhabitants of the Regency period embraced this philosophy and by the mid 1800’s nearly 1/3 of all urban households had indoor plumbing.

The Victorians had it going on! In England.

America? Well, not so much, we were a little slower on the uptake. But, after the cataclysms of the the Civil War and the gradual acceptance of germ theory – the light pretty much went on. A clean patient and surgery meant fewer infections. A clean person and environment meant less illness and disease. Bathing was good. Clean clothes were good. Plumbing and sewage systems? Good. Houses were increasingly designed with areas designated as “bath-rooms” and set up for the addition of indoor plumbing. The middle and upper classes began to add taps and flushing toilets. Huzzah!

What did this mean for the clean? Full immersion bathing was still a production and usually done in ones bedroom or the kitchen – the tub full of water utilized by the entire family. Gross, right? This was done every week or so. One would do a sponge bath daily – washing your face, hands, armpits, feet and naughty bits. You changed your linen (undergarments) daily. Women washed their hair every few months or so. Scented soaps, toilette waters, powders and hair oils were used to help things along and usually home made.

So, post Civil War through the 1880’s, we were fairly clean. Did we stink? Probably by today’s picky standards, but so did everyone – it was a level playing field.

By the 1890’s, most middle/upper class city dwelling Americans had indoor plumbing, inclusive of a bath tub. At this point, showers were a luxury reserved for the uber-wealthy (think Vanderbilt and Astor) and were amazing contraptions as we see here. In fact, if you get the chance to visit the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, the bathrooms are a marvel. With beautiful tile work and bath tubs big enough for two- as well as showers. A veritable playground of clean!

By the 1920’s, showers were somewhat more common though we still didn’t bathe every day. Women washed their hair once a week or so. Commercially prepared soaps, deodorants, tooth powders/pastes and the like were more readily available – ads touted freshness and cleanliness. Women were expected to smell sweet and be “dainty”. The 1930’s furthered our BO shame and began the push to modern hygiene standards. Women now had to worry about hairy armpit odor – the social humiliation of “arm hole” stink, as well as more intimate odor offenses – check out this appalling ad for Lysol.

A word on shaving – women didn’t start shaving with any regularity until the early/mid 20th century – that’s when Gillette introduced the first safety razor for women. The sleeveless gowns of the Edwardian era prompted the practice. Legs were not usually shaved, with long skirts, who saw them? It was primarily the underarm area – this was borderline scandalous, even the word “underarm” was considered scandalous!. Of course, not all women did, so all those gorgeous gowns on Downton Abbey? Yep, chances were good that hairy pits and legs lurked under all that amazing couture.

The more revealing fashions of the 1920’s saw underarm shaving gain popularity – though legs were still infrequently denuded, even with the shorter hemlines. The short, above the knee hemlines of the 1940’s added legs into the mix. How did we live with our hairy, stinky selves?

It wasn’t until the WW2 era or so that the daily bath became much more the norm. We pretty much took a total immersion bath or shower every day. Used commercial deodorant. Women washed their hair weekly – shaved their legs and underarms. We brushed our teeth twice daily. Changed clothes frequently. We were clean! We probably didn’t smell too much at all, even by today’s standards. This pattern of bathing continued through the late 1970’s – then we went into overdrive.

Let’s digress.

Give Up the Funk|Aunt Flow

It’s the question women frequently have when thinking about “back in the day”. What did they do, you know, during their period? This was a difficult subject to research, since history was primarily written by men and we all know how fond they are of discussing this subject. Even historical medical texts dismissed the topic!

Geek moment – regular cycles weren’t the norm until more recent history. Why you ask? Poor nutrition and low body weight disrupted a woman’s cycle in less affluent socio-economic spheres. Across the board, frequent pregnancy and breast feeding were the other game changers, as well as disease. In addition, girls experienced menarche later than their modern counterparts – so the time between starting and menopause was typically shorter – side note: the age of menarche has declined significantly in the past 150 years (from upwards of 17 in the early 19th century to 12 or so today), but the onset of menopause has not changed, it has remained 50-55. The life expectancy for a woman in 1900 was around 47-50 years. Shocking, I know.

In the 19th century, women primarily made their own napkins/towels out of cotton and wool lint. They also made their own “belts”, or the napkin was just pinned into their under drawers. They were reusable and boiled clean after use. I know, right? How would a huge homemade napkin fit into your cunning little evening bag? There’s also documentation that women simply bled into their undergarments and clothing. Um, gross. Laundry would be unimaginable. Internal protection/tampons, though not unheard of, were used primarily by dancers and others in the entertainment industry, if you get my drift.

By the early part of the 20th century, napkins and belts became more commercially available. So, if you could afford it, you could get supplies via mail order – order your shotgun, house, Easter bonnet and sanitary supplies through the Sears Catalogue. Less affluent women either did nothing (see comments above) or made their own. Out of The Great War came tampons as we know them today and more adsorbent napkin materials. The 1920’s brought about recognizable and disposable sanitary supplies – familiar product names came into play – Modess, Kotex, etc. Ads were discretely placed in magazines and drugstores had displays. Tampons weren’t popular or widely used until the 1950’s and belts were still needed for napkins up until the early/mid 1970’s.

Are we lucky or what?

Give Up The Funk | Germ and Odor Free, You and Me

Being who we are, we have to take everything to the extreme. The always accurate internet, our overly dramatic media and in your face product marketing encourages us to obsess about the smell and cleanliness of our bodies. Throw into this mix the overblown fear of germs and illness? You have a great picture of the 21st century hygienic life.

Are we healthier? Many medical professionals and researchers believe we are actually doing ourselves a disservice – our immune systems are not building up resistance to germs and other irritants, making us more susceptible to allergies, asthma and illness in general.

As with most things – the cycle is coming full circle. Change is afoot, many are moving more to the “old ways”. Eschewing daily baths, selecting more natural grooming and hygiene products, washing their hair less frequently and ditching hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial soaps. The web is full of blogs and articles – people who have completely given up soap, shampoo and such, it’s really quite interesting.

Going completely full circle probably isn’t realistic or desirable, who really wants to share bath water? But taking a step back and viewing our habits in a realistic manner might just end up saving us time, money and help conserve our valuable resources – and as lovers of all things vintage, isn’t the desire to recycle and a green philosophy at least part of the reason we do what we do?

Well, that and the fact that vintage is totally awesome!

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To our dear readers: Would you be willing to experiment and change your bathing routine? Have you? If yes, please share your experience!

The author would like to thank: salon.com, Wikipedia, myperiodblog.com, mum.org, homethingspast.com, mentalfloss.com, history.com, History Undressed, The New York Times, and Scientific American. As well as those who share their images freely on the internet.

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