History classes often cover the Colonial era, with familiar mentions of tricorner hats, muskets, and iconic figures. But have you ever wondered about the hygiene habits of that time? Beneath the layers of uniforms and wigs, colonists had some truly peculiar practices. Journey through time into the strange and often astonishing world of colonial hygiene practices that you’ll be glad have been left in the past.
Rotting Teeth Were Seen as a Sign of Wealth
During the Colonial era, sugar was a hot commodity. It wasn’t something that the average Joe could buy, which meant that it was reserved for the higher, wealthier classes. And while we now know that rotten teeth as a result of too much sugar is a bad thing, they didn’t think the same back in the day. Rotting teeth were actually seen as a sign of wealth, as it proved to the rest of the world that you could afford it.
Even those who couldn’t afford sugar tried to fake that their teeth were rotting. They tried to stain them with natural colorings, and scrubbed them with lye to create the illusion that they were rich.
They Used Crocodile Excrement as a Contraceptive
During the Colonial era, contraceptives were scarce. Because of this, couples and unmarried women often welcomed children they had not been expecting or planning to conceive. But in an effort to prevent pregnancy, strange and bizarre makeshift contraceptives started to pop out of the woodwork. One of the most common during this time was crocodile excrement, which was rolled into a ball and then inserted into the woman before any physical acts.
As you can imagine, this caused a whole load of other problems and didn’t always prevent pregnancy. So, the concept became less and less popular as the time wore on.
Dishes Were Washed With Animal Fat and Ash
Back in the Colonial era, they didn’t have dish soap or laundry detergent on tap. Instead, the regular folk had to save up their hard-earned money for months to buy some laundry detergent. This was called lye soup, a strange concoction made from animal fat, ash from the fire, and lye. However, this lye soup was so expensive that the common folk didn’t want to use it on all of their dishes and all of their laundry.
So, while they used it to wash their dirtiest washing dishes and the dishes that needed a good cleaning, others just didn’t make the cut. In those instances, they were given a quick rinse in a bucket of water before being used again.