The book is about bathing in Western society and it contains some very interesting information such as the fact that Christianity is the only religion that took no interest in hygiene.
Other interesting facts -
During the Black Plague doctors thought that disease entered the body through the pores so they advised everyone to avoid hot water so for 350 years no one bathed.
The flax in linen shirts was believed to draw dirt from the skin so wearing clean shirts was thought to clean you, as evidenced by dirty collars and cuffs.
Wealthy people could afford to change their sheets frequently, about every two years.
The Japanese are thought to be the cleanest people with their bathing habits.
The Finnish sauna is a tradition that goes back a long way. They were considered to be excellent for health and wellbeing. Some mothers delivered their babies in the sauna.
You'll find a few more facts at http://thedirtonclean.com/facts.asp
Being unclean and having "bugs" on you were so common that La Tour did a painting of a woman finding a flea on her body.
This is the page I've done -
No comments:
Post a Comment