I always think, “how did we survive back before people regularly bathed?” I never think living in the middle ages would have been that fun. I would have fainted from the smell.
Back then, everything else smelled the same, so you wouldn’t notice (and you’d be used to it). Our “modern” civilization, with its ever-more-hypersensitive reaction to the biological aspect of our lives, has trained us to believe that we should strive to be as artificial as possible. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, but we’ve lost sight of things that didn’t really matter once upon a time.
“I always think, “how did we survive back before people regularly bathed?””
People didn’t spend much time jammed together in metal tubes flying through the air, building were generally not sealed like today and much draftier with much more air movement, and finally, I imagine people just got used to the stink around them. Don’t forget at one time our streets were full of horse crap, proper sewage systems were not so common, and so on.
I don’t know if it’s diet or genetics or personal hygeine, but some people who work in my building who come from a certain ethnic group really stink. I’m guessing a combination of diet and hygeine habits. I know there’s a big guy who works out down in the gym at lunch time when I do, and after running and cycling (i.e. sweating) and lifting weights and such for an hour, he changes clothes and goes back to work - no shower! I’m glad my cube isn’t next to his.
Prior to the 20th century most people lived around farm animals and even "city folks" lived in close proximity to horses and were just used to the stench. It's only with the advent of modern hygiene that it comes as a shock when we are reminded of our animal origins.
But I've never heard of a time travel story where travelers found themselves gasping for breath as soon as they entered a room filled with a native crowd. Would make a good short story. :)
In early days in Canada (late l600’s and thru’ early l800’s) the cold was so bitter in winter, they wrapped their legs in moss and grasses, bound that in cloth strips, wrapped that in oil cloth (or whatever that was called then), then wrapped that in skins. This began in early winter and wasn’t unwrapped until late spring, early summer. I often wonder how the birth rate was around 16 to 20 kids per couple coz’ I really think the stinky wrappings would put me off.
There was a picture of the man taken off the plane. He was a big roly poly guy. When you have rolls of fat like that you have to be scrupulous about getting into those rolls of fat, washing and drying thoroughly, then using plenty of talc to keep as much sweat at bay as you can, otherwise you are pepe le peu.
People bathed relatively frequently in the Middle Ages. The period of time when bathing was considered unhealthy was the early modern period, 1600s-1700s, when the upper classes just piled on perfume and pissed in the corner of rooms at Versailles Palace.
me too!
My sense of smell is very good. Sometimes its a curse!
Everybody smoked?
People carried a pomander or scent ball to hold under their nose.
It wasn't so very long ago (1800's) that regular bathing especially in winter was considered unhealthy.