Myth 2 People of the frontier era were ignorant about cleanliness.

[Tsalagidave]

Three months ago, I put my business & marketing background to use in ascertaining why there is a general decline in the American Reenacting hobby. I came up with a lot of reasons and it evolved into a book that I took excerpts from to start making posts here. Cutting out the text to make it a short-fast read really hurt. I had to remove vital information that supports each claim as well as cited resources on which I based my statements. That being said, if sources are really what you'd like to see (and I'd like to show) please either reply to this initial post or send me a PM so that I can provide them for the benefit of the discussion.

The Miscarriage of History, how Docents, Living Historians and other "Volunteers" Convince Us Why Our Heritage is Better off Forgotten (Section 2.0)

People of the past are often portrayed as all being 5 feet tall, filthy, stupid, illiterate, ignorant, medically inept, toothless and dead by 30.  I'll take it further than that.  A large cross-section of docents and reenactors alike seem to take delight in regaling innocent bystanders with tales of using dry corncobs for toilet paper, turd for perfume and curing headaches with amputation in the same matter that a schoolboy chases his classmates around a playground with a dead rat at the end of a stick. This untutored approach mainly does two things; it obscures the truth and it deters most from pursuing any further interest in the time period that was just butchered before their eyes and ears.

This is one big reason of many why people lose their interest in reenactment events, historic sites, museums, etc. They are generally affirmed that the past sucked. In fact, it sucked so bad that you wonder why any idiot would spend a small fortune on the clothing, and gear not to mention the time needed to immerse themselves in such a sucky chapter in human existence. For that matter, you are left a little frustrated with yourself  that you wasted your Saturday learning about a bunch of backwards, ignorant people from a nasty, hostile world that is better left forgotten. Thank goodness we've evolved beyond that nonsense, right?

Now, have we come a long way since then? Yes. We have made great strides in science and technology. Unfortunately, we now ignore the merits our ancestors had. I started a list of myths & half-truths that needed to be addressed. I'll list them one at a time as I have each chapter cut down to a more web-friendly context.

Myth 2 They were ignorant about cleanliness. There was an absolute general knowledge that poor hygiene contributed to poor health. Numerous publications from previous centuries emphasized the importance of proper hygiene.  This includes schoolbooks, household medical guides, military text books, travel guides and numerous other periodicals.
The main source of the myth that bathing was "injurious to health" came from a 1917 article written by H.L. Menken and was meant entirely as a joke. Despite Menken's 1926 retraction, the myth has found its way into print and is still cited as fact today. Anyone who has done trail drives, historic treks, or even a field reenactment that is more than 3-days long, knows that there is no way to stay clean by 21st century standards out there.  That being said, people still made a conscious effort to clean themselves whenever they could in order to safeguard their health. It is important to note here that we likely see people of the past as less clean due to the fact that nobody lived in a sterile environment free from dirt roads and animal refuse. The higher level of exposure to pathogens on a regular basis actually gave the survivors who didn't succumb, a strong immune systems that could handle a greater amount of impurities than 21'st century Americans as a general whole could endure.
Although a bath was preferred, logistically, it is very difficult to heat up 30+ gallons of water to bathe every night in a home without a water heater and indoor plumbing. The usual drill was to keep the face and body clean throughout the day and by spot-washing the entire body about twice daily by means of a stool, towel pitcher with basin and soap. There were different variations of soap made for various purposes. Less acidic cleansers like Castile soap were for bodily hygiene while the stronger lye soaps served well for laundry and household disinfecting.

[pony express]

While it's nice, it's not really necessary to have endless hot water for showers to get clean. When we return to my wife's home in the Philippines, we get reminded of that. Few homes have hot water, and there are still many that don't have running water at all. But most everyone has a bucket, dipper, soap and a towel. I'm sure our ancestors would have done the same.

As a side note, while in the big stores you can get any product available in the rest of the world, for most there is one kind of soap used for almost everything, a somewhat hard bar soap used for washing including dishes and clothes. And huge, thick, fluffy towels aren't popular since they are hard to hand wash, and in a tropical climate they are hard to ever get dry.

[Tsalagidave]

Those are all excellent points Pony. In the long run, its amazing how the rest of the world (then and now) seems to do just fine without all the extensive comforts we provide for ourselves in the 21st c. USA.  I feel the same way in many countries I visit. All our convenience has made us kind of soft.

-Dave

[Mogorilla]

Great stuff, but did I miss Myth #1?

[Tsalagidave]

Great stuff, but did I miss Myth #1?

You didn't. I am still editing down that one. I was taking too much time on it.

-Dave