LongTermGuy
04-12-2019, 10:10 AM
"We’ve come a long way as a society when it comes to personal hygiene but it hasn’t always been that way.
The generations before us had to get pretty crafty when it came to keeping clean and staying healthy.
Just think about it. Before we had fancy face wash infused with kale extract, our ancestors had to try out some pretty gross ways to keep their face clean, like using their own urine (ew!).
Check out some of the most disgusting—and sometimes dangerous—ways our ancient ancestors kept clean."
You might not hate using 2-ply when you find out what humans used to use as toilet paper.
Entire Families Reused The Same Bath Water
In the Middle Ages, bathing was emphasized by Christianity as a way to show off your cleanliness.
While the upper class could afford to heat a bathtub of water every night, the lower class couldn’t. Families would instead end up sharing the same bathwater.
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-929339570-79811.jpg
They often bathed from oldest to youngest, so if you were the baby of your family you ended up in some pretty dirty water.
Bathing has evolved a lot over time, but it used to be a pretty gross affair."
Balding Men Would Rub Chicken Poop On Their Head
History has a lot of strange medical remedies but none as weird as using chicken feces to cure baldness.
A 17th-century medical book titled “The Path-Way To Health” advised men to mix chicken manure (known back then as Culver-dung) with Lye and wash their scalps with it."
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-162762893-13258.jpg
The King Has His Own Butt-Wiper
The Groom of the Stool was a position in the English court who’s job was to, well, wipe the King’s butt after he used the washroom. It sounds like a disgusting job but it came with a surprising amount of privileges..................
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-3354320-84503.jpg
The Groom of the Stool would become one of the most intimate and trusted hands of the English King. The male servant was often a confidant for the King and knew some of the most scandalous royal secrets.
Egyptian Women Used Crocodile Dung As A Contraceptive
Women have tried a lot of things over the years to prevent unwanted pregnancies, but Ancient Egyptians take the cake.
Scrolls that date back to 1850 BC show that women were taking crocodile dung, turning it into small pellets, and inserting it into their genitalia.
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-947767672-77390.jpg
It might sound crazy but modern science has proved that this ancient family planning technique may have actually worked.
Crocodile poop has a similar makeup as alkaline and other modern-day spermicides.
Noble Women Painted Their Faces With Lead
While having sun-kissed skin is all the rage today for much of history being pale was much more fashionable.
That’s because it proved that you didn’t have to work in the fields. Both noble women and men would paint their faces white to look even fairer.
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-594773900-47566.jpg
The problem is that the white paint was made of pure lead that was poisonous and would eat away at the wearer’s skin. Then they’d have to wear more makeup and the vicious cycle continued.
Rotten Teeth Was A Symbol Of Wealth
During the Elizabethan era, refined sugar was only available to the upper class and wealthy members of society.
Therefore, if you had teeth that were rotten, covered in gingivitis, and falling out, it was actually a sign of extreme wealth. Some peasants even went so far as to fake gingivitis so they could look richer."
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-558219963-57249.jpg
The upper echelon may have been rich but they clearly weren’t rich enough to afford a visit to the dentist."
Most People Had Four Outfits…For The Entire Year
Fashion in the 19th century wasn’t about looking good. It was about being practical and saving money. Only the upper class had a different outfit for every day. The rest of society had to make do with one outfit for an entire season. And yes, the same rule applied to undergarments."
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-931385990-94688.jpg
The clothes might get washed once every few weeks but don’t expect it. The only reason you might get a fifth outfit is if you had somewhere formal to go."
In the early 20th century, most shoe polishes were made with an ingredient called nitrobenzene. It had the incredible ability to make shoes extra shiny and slick, but it also could make you faint in an instant if you inhaled the toxins."
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-526887710-98458.jpg
If frequent fainting wasn’t dangerous enough, mixing nitrobenzene with alcohol was practically a death sentence. Even modern shoe polish can be deadly if it is ingested in high quantities."
http://wantoncreation.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/the-end-3.jpg
https://www.90daykorean.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Standard-Have-a-Nice-Day-in-Korean.jpg
The generations before us had to get pretty crafty when it came to keeping clean and staying healthy.
Just think about it. Before we had fancy face wash infused with kale extract, our ancestors had to try out some pretty gross ways to keep their face clean, like using their own urine (ew!).
Check out some of the most disgusting—and sometimes dangerous—ways our ancient ancestors kept clean."
You might not hate using 2-ply when you find out what humans used to use as toilet paper.
Entire Families Reused The Same Bath Water
In the Middle Ages, bathing was emphasized by Christianity as a way to show off your cleanliness.
While the upper class could afford to heat a bathtub of water every night, the lower class couldn’t. Families would instead end up sharing the same bathwater.
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-929339570-79811.jpg
They often bathed from oldest to youngest, so if you were the baby of your family you ended up in some pretty dirty water.
Bathing has evolved a lot over time, but it used to be a pretty gross affair."
Balding Men Would Rub Chicken Poop On Their Head
History has a lot of strange medical remedies but none as weird as using chicken feces to cure baldness.
A 17th-century medical book titled “The Path-Way To Health” advised men to mix chicken manure (known back then as Culver-dung) with Lye and wash their scalps with it."
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-162762893-13258.jpg
The King Has His Own Butt-Wiper
The Groom of the Stool was a position in the English court who’s job was to, well, wipe the King’s butt after he used the washroom. It sounds like a disgusting job but it came with a surprising amount of privileges..................
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-3354320-84503.jpg
The Groom of the Stool would become one of the most intimate and trusted hands of the English King. The male servant was often a confidant for the King and knew some of the most scandalous royal secrets.
Egyptian Women Used Crocodile Dung As A Contraceptive
Women have tried a lot of things over the years to prevent unwanted pregnancies, but Ancient Egyptians take the cake.
Scrolls that date back to 1850 BC show that women were taking crocodile dung, turning it into small pellets, and inserting it into their genitalia.
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-947767672-77390.jpg
It might sound crazy but modern science has proved that this ancient family planning technique may have actually worked.
Crocodile poop has a similar makeup as alkaline and other modern-day spermicides.
Noble Women Painted Their Faces With Lead
While having sun-kissed skin is all the rage today for much of history being pale was much more fashionable.
That’s because it proved that you didn’t have to work in the fields. Both noble women and men would paint their faces white to look even fairer.
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-594773900-47566.jpg
The problem is that the white paint was made of pure lead that was poisonous and would eat away at the wearer’s skin. Then they’d have to wear more makeup and the vicious cycle continued.
Rotten Teeth Was A Symbol Of Wealth
During the Elizabethan era, refined sugar was only available to the upper class and wealthy members of society.
Therefore, if you had teeth that were rotten, covered in gingivitis, and falling out, it was actually a sign of extreme wealth. Some peasants even went so far as to fake gingivitis so they could look richer."
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-558219963-57249.jpg
The upper echelon may have been rich but they clearly weren’t rich enough to afford a visit to the dentist."
Most People Had Four Outfits…For The Entire Year
Fashion in the 19th century wasn’t about looking good. It was about being practical and saving money. Only the upper class had a different outfit for every day. The rest of society had to make do with one outfit for an entire season. And yes, the same rule applied to undergarments."
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-931385990-94688.jpg
The clothes might get washed once every few weeks but don’t expect it. The only reason you might get a fifth outfit is if you had somewhere formal to go."
In the early 20th century, most shoe polishes were made with an ingredient called nitrobenzene. It had the incredible ability to make shoes extra shiny and slick, but it also could make you faint in an instant if you inhaled the toxins."
https://www.healthygem.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/GettyImages-526887710-98458.jpg
If frequent fainting wasn’t dangerous enough, mixing nitrobenzene with alcohol was practically a death sentence. Even modern shoe polish can be deadly if it is ingested in high quantities."
http://wantoncreation.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/the-end-3.jpg
https://www.90daykorean.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Standard-Have-a-Nice-Day-in-Korean.jpg