Arsenic and Old Lace

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

Arsenic was everywhere in Victorian Britain.  Although it was known to be used as a murder weapon, the cheap, natural element was used in candles, curtains, and wallpaper, wrote James C. Whorton in The Arsenic Century: How Victorian Britain Was Poisoned at Home, Work, and Play.

Because it dyed fabric bright emerald green, arsenic also ended up in dresses, gloves, shoes, and artificial flower wreaths that women used to decorate their hair and clothes.

The wreaths in particular could cause rashes for women who wore them. But like mercury hats, arsenic fashions were most dangerous for the people who manufactured them.

For example, in 1861, a 19-year-old artificial flower maker named Matilda Scheurer—whose job involved dusting flowers with green, arsenic-laced powder—died a violent and colorful death.  She convulsed, vomited, and foamed at the mouth.  Her bile was green, and so were her fingernails and the whites of her eye.  An autopsy found arsenic in her stomach, liver, and lungs.

Articles about Scheurer’s death and the plight of artificial flower makers raised public awareness about arsenic in fashion.  The British Medical Journal wrote that the arsenic-wearing woman “carries in her skirts poison enough to slay the whole of the admirers she may meet with in half a dozen ball-rooms.”  In the mid-to-late 1800s, sensational claims like these began to turn public opinion against this deadly shade of green.

[Gail]

William Morris, the designer of Victorian wallpaper, used it in his product, too. Amazing! They just never knew, eh?

[LynnDel]

Very interesting. Good thing I didn't live back then, because I love green.

 

 

[Gail]

And that is a very pretty dress in the picture!

[Kevin H]

How horrible.