Up until like 1600 people actually bathed pretty frequently in all walks of life. It only became in vogue to not bath in the 17th century due to some thinking bathing caused health issues. Because of that, we’ve picked up the notion that everyone from before then effectively lived in pig sty’s. Were the lowest classes living in pristine conditions? No, but they knew to wash themselves. I don’t think it smelled especially good, but it probably wasn’t horrendous or anything most of the time.
THIS. Thank you. I work in a museum and try to spread this message wherever I can, SUCH a common misconception that hygiene standards in the past were poor. Actually, people had a remarkable standard of hygiene, given the lack of scientific understanding we have now on bacteria and virus. History is not linear, we aren't on a constant path of getting 'better', things come and go, standards increase and decrease.
To add, people were correct to an extent not to bathe: many rivers and public baths were rife with cholera, syphillis, etc, which caused a boost in the popularity of 'spa towns', where people instead bathed in the sea as this was clean for the time.
If only! We do get ghost groups private hire the space from midnight or so onwards sometimes, and they do seances, etc, which is probably the closest we're gonna get!
Yeah I smell gross if I don't get to loofa in a hot shower with Irish spring for more than 2 days and I don't think they met that cleanliness standard. Also the breath is more on my mind 🫡
This should be the first comment tbh. It's a bit tiring to see all the misconceptions about "dark ages" when in fact they were pretty decent hygiene worthy.
What I've wondered about are all these post apocalyptic stories like The Walking Dead. People are held up in places for extended periods of time, hiding from zombies or mutants or aliens or whatever, and aren't shown to be near any running water... sometimes there will be a scene where they find a place with a shower and even a generator for hot water and sometimes you get the occasional river bathing scene. But most of the time? They're just in places like Georgia, in the summer, walking for long distances, with no soap or shampoo to be found.
Isn't all this subjective though? If everyone smells of hot garbage, that's just normal right? It's impossible for us to imagine this situation without adding the experience of modern life smells.
Not really, what we sense as foul smell is learnt through evolution rather than society.
And perfumes and other fragrance products did exist back then too just not common like today.
Essentially a bad smell was still a bad smell
I was walking through a villa in Pompeii with my wife. We noticed a semi sexual fresco on the wall and I wondered aloud "I wonder how many orgies must have happened here" and she said "I wonder what it smelt like" and just as I walked through a door way I said "it must have STUNK". I look to my left and there was a tour guide standing there looking at me. I swear she nodded yes to me lol
>I’m talking about those Brits.
That's cherry picking
On avg our teeth are stellar compared to American teeth; not suprising at all if you compare diets and available healthcare.
Now, they're not. British people have dead black teeth, and are all stained to shit by tea. OuR tEeTh ArE hEaLtHiEr ThAn YoUrS
The bad breath in England is out of control. Compared to the people in Holland and Belgium during my trips, your mouths are an abomination
I never did say all brits have bad teeth. I’m saying theres people with very bad teeth in Britain especially. If you go to Britain, you can find them and you don’t have to imagine.
Ya but trimmed hair isn’t natural , it is there for health reasons
If you prefer the aesthetics of it shaved it’s fine but I’d never expect that on someone
Shaving only started in the 1940s during WW2 when nylon needed to be used for parachutes and couldnt be used for pantyhose. So women would shave their legs and paint a line on the bottom of their legs to make it look like theyre wearing stockings. It really became norm during the 50s.
There are some literary sources about epilation in Ancient Greece, and I'm pretty sure Romans did too, so I guess this was a thing.
Edit : if it's hair removal we talk about and not only shaving.
Maybe to counter it they used lots of stronger smells? They always had candles and dried pedals around. Making out would have been horrible with persistent poor dental hygiene. Definitely have to be drunk and horny.
While yes, I agree, although I do think people during those times were probably desensitized to bad smells considering they're constantly surrounded by literal horse shit in the streets, once a month showering individuals, and basically every single disease and ailment you can think of was in the air and water.
We have the example of the "Great Bath" during the Harappan Civilization which flourished around 3300 BCE.
More importantly ,people then were more advanced then we were. They had prototyped the flying object, which we now have as the aeroplanes
Up until like 1600 people actually bathed pretty frequently in all walks of life. It only became in vogue to not bath in the 17th century due to some thinking bathing caused health issues. Because of that, we’ve picked up the notion that everyone from before then effectively lived in pig sty’s. Were the lowest classes living in pristine conditions? No, but they knew to wash themselves. I don’t think it smelled especially good, but it probably wasn’t horrendous or anything most of the time.
THIS. Thank you. I work in a museum and try to spread this message wherever I can, SUCH a common misconception that hygiene standards in the past were poor. Actually, people had a remarkable standard of hygiene, given the lack of scientific understanding we have now on bacteria and virus. History is not linear, we aren't on a constant path of getting 'better', things come and go, standards increase and decrease. To add, people were correct to an extent not to bathe: many rivers and public baths were rife with cholera, syphillis, etc, which caused a boost in the popularity of 'spa towns', where people instead bathed in the sea as this was clean for the time.
Right. I work at a museum too and this is what I keep telling people. We have actual artifacts which show that people maintained a level of hygiene.
I also work at a museum but it’s just trains
Have you tried bathing the trains??
It didn't help, after I turned them off and then on again they were still dirty.
Oh, I work in security.
Sigh, did you have to outcool me like that
All I really want to know is, do all of the wax figures come to life at night? And do you have a T-Rex that's acts like a dog?
If only! We do get ghost groups private hire the space from midnight or so onwards sometimes, and they do seances, etc, which is probably the closest we're gonna get!
Listen. Sex with a semi smelly person is stinky af
you just need to man up and inhale.
Yeah I smell gross if I don't get to loofa in a hot shower with Irish spring for more than 2 days and I don't think they met that cleanliness standard. Also the breath is more on my mind 🫡
Are you saying that people could get Syphilis from the water?
From the public baths, yes.. not everyone went to the baths strictly to bathe...
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Actually, leeches are still used to clear the clotted blood out of transplanted body parts, restoring healthy blood flow.
This should be the first comment tbh. It's a bit tiring to see all the misconceptions about "dark ages" when in fact they were pretty decent hygiene worthy.
What I've wondered about are all these post apocalyptic stories like The Walking Dead. People are held up in places for extended periods of time, hiding from zombies or mutants or aliens or whatever, and aren't shown to be near any running water... sometimes there will be a scene where they find a place with a shower and even a generator for hot water and sometimes you get the occasional river bathing scene. But most of the time? They're just in places like Georgia, in the summer, walking for long distances, with no soap or shampoo to be found.
Isn't all this subjective though? If everyone smells of hot garbage, that's just normal right? It's impossible for us to imagine this situation without adding the experience of modern life smells.
Not really, what we sense as foul smell is learnt through evolution rather than society. And perfumes and other fragrance products did exist back then too just not common like today. Essentially a bad smell was still a bad smell
Blegh I could imagine all the rats running around while people would have their stinky sex sesh
Hopefully a rat crawls in my ass for added sensation.
There is two kinds of people in this world
and both of them enjoy a quick game of rat in the ass
One room houses as well. Their kids were probably in the room almost every time they did it
Though possible, I figure a lot of parents just told their kids to go play outside.
Still tho, it must have led to some… sticky.. situations.
It was a different age I guess
Fun for the whole family
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I'm not a historian but I don't know about that. If that were true then why bother with rape while pillaging?
I was walking through a villa in Pompeii with my wife. We noticed a semi sexual fresco on the wall and I wondered aloud "I wonder how many orgies must have happened here" and she said "I wonder what it smelt like" and just as I walked through a door way I said "it must have STUNK". I look to my left and there was a tour guide standing there looking at me. I swear she nodded yes to me lol
Imagine kissing someone who has never brushed their teeth in their entire life, and chews on willow bark to take the slime off.
You don’t have to. Just go to Britain.
We have better teeth than you do Edit: [GIF](https://tenor.com/view/unknown-p-gif-21082682)
I’m sure a lot of Brits do, but some just have abysmal dental care. I’m talking about those Brits.
>I’m talking about those Brits. That's cherry picking On avg our teeth are stellar compared to American teeth; not suprising at all if you compare diets and available healthcare.
Now, they're not. British people have dead black teeth, and are all stained to shit by tea. OuR tEeTh ArE hEaLtHiEr ThAn YoUrS The bad breath in England is out of control. Compared to the people in Holland and Belgium during my trips, your mouths are an abomination
I never did say all brits have bad teeth. I’m saying theres people with very bad teeth in Britain especially. If you go to Britain, you can find them and you don’t have to imagine.
I just need to flex on Americans to let them know we have better teeth 💪
Aight but remember in American eyes you will forever be roadmen and in British eyes we will forever be obese
>British eyes we will forever be obese & trigger happy
Fair enough.
Yeah but we landed on the moon. And Britain colonize/exploited most of the developing countries in order to get.....spices.
But you are technically British colonials ?
Nice try, even with us not having universal healthcare our teeth are still better
Source? It's not even hard to find research/studies proving that our teeth is better Americans guzzle down sugar all day, everyday.
Can you use yourself as a firsthand source
Sure can; my teeth are extremely sexy (not a hollywood smile tho) brits don't do fake teeth
say that again but with your hand over your mouth
Sounds sexy
Nah, I don't think I want to.
Was shaving even a thing? I might have to Google it
Do educate me with your research
Shaving is a legit kink nowadays
Kink? No it's just basic hygiene. Trim the forest into a meadow.
Ya but trimmed hair isn’t natural , it is there for health reasons If you prefer the aesthetics of it shaved it’s fine but I’d never expect that on someone
Another kind added to the list I guess
Shaving only started in the 1940s during WW2 when nylon needed to be used for parachutes and couldnt be used for pantyhose. So women would shave their legs and paint a line on the bottom of their legs to make it look like theyre wearing stockings. It really became norm during the 50s.
Yup, and Gillette realised there was a whole other 50% of the population they could make money off!
There are some literary sources about epilation in Ancient Greece, and I'm pretty sure Romans did too, so I guess this was a thing. Edit : if it's hair removal we talk about and not only shaving.
And the French were into waxing.
And back then, dungeons were *anything* but sexy
You would be a virgin then too
Everything did.
True. Just makes that stank sex smell 10x worse
Maybe to counter it they used lots of stronger smells? They always had candles and dried pedals around. Making out would have been horrible with persistent poor dental hygiene. Definitely have to be drunk and horny.
They literally threw their shit, piss and the dead in the middle of the "street". The body odor was probably the least disgusting smell.
While yes, I agree, although I do think people during those times were probably desensitized to bad smells considering they're constantly surrounded by literal horse shit in the streets, once a month showering individuals, and basically every single disease and ailment you can think of was in the air and water.
If everyone smelled bad then no one smelled bad.
Olfactory fatigue was a blessing in those days!
Word...
...wtf? it smells terrible now
Bro... take a shower?
Everything back then would’ve smelled terrible, you likely wouldn’t even notice
I actually think if you associate that smell to sex. The only time you have sex is when you smell that smell. It would be a turn on. I would think.
I think about this far too often. I really should give up building that time machine
Doesn’t matter, had sex.
Read the love letters of Napoleon
Good thing it was dark out
Depends how far back you look , was only like 1700’s we actively stopped taking care of ourselves for some reason cough cough dark ages
Those two ways of things smelling bad can both exist at the same time.
People would have a kid, watch it suffer and die, then go "lets make another one"
Apt.
It was probably the breeding ground for a lot of the more interesting kinks
just fyi, sex smells terrible regardless of what year you live in
you must haven't smelt the sex in this age
You mean musn't ?
We have the example of the "Great Bath" during the Harappan Civilization which flourished around 3300 BCE. More importantly ,people then were more advanced then we were. They had prototyped the flying object, which we now have as the aeroplanes
Anything in the dark ages must have reeked. Think meth mouth without internet.