Can you imagine saving money in your teen years to pay for your funeral? That's what the young men of the 17th century did - death and disease were so common that they began putting away their gold coins at a young age in order to pay for their own funeral expenses. Men who traveled on business would pack their "laying out clothes" along with their regular clothes just in case they became ill and died while away. Americans who lived prior to the 20th century were prepared for death at any age, and they believed death was the will of their Puritan God. In the late 18th century and early 19th century, the average age in America was only 34 years. Many infants did not survive infancy, and those who did had to contend with the many illnesses that plagued the nation, including yellow fever, malaria, dysentery, and "consumption" (tuberculosis), among many other ailments.
The way in which society dealt with these diseases reflected the ignorance of the times. Until the end of the 19th century, medical science did little to help fight disease. As a result, some of the wildest curatives and preventatives imaginable were concocted by medical practitioners and lay people alike, and many medical myths were born. It can be assumed that some of these aids appeared to work on one or two disease-stricken persons by sheer coincidence, and those cures became entrusted by a panicky public who were willing to try just about anything in order to prevent themselves from becoming the next victims.
Vinegar played an important part in preventing the spread of fevers and plague, apparently used as an antiseptic. When a medical practitioner would visit a household, the children would follow him throughout the house, sprinkling vinegar on the floor in his trail to kill whatever germs he may have dragged in from his last patient. Although one of the preventatives was for healthy people to stay closed up in their homes, there were times when they would have to venture out into the streets. To prevent disease in their neighborhoods from infecting them, they would cover their noses and mouths with vinegar-soaked handkerchiefs. During the yellow fever plague of Philadelphia in 1793 during which countless numbers of people died, one doctor felt he was able to quell the spread of fever by wrapping his patients in hot vinegar-soaked blankets and dousing them with cold water.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Anita Stratos's Historical Myths topic, please visit the Discussions page.