A history of crunchy hygiene

Whether you know it or not, I'm a bit of a history buff. Amateur of course. I have loved studying ancient civilizations and medieval history as a kid and that only grew as an adult, when I realized just how MUCH history they don't teach you in school. It's amazing, how truly sophisticated some of the ancient societies actually were, for example. The Romans had nearly aspect of our very modern life, from policemen to politicians, from construction workers to elite fighting forces. They even had apartments and parking systems, running hot/cold water (if you were rich) a sewer system and waterways to bring fresh clean water to the masses. Of course they also had slavery and a tendency to love blood sports and violent deaths as a form of entertainment...but who's judging?

Why am I telling you this? I thought it might be fun today to look at some of the older societies approach to bathing and hygiene, since we've focused on 'natural beauty' here on Crunch Away. So let's see how truly "natural" bathing and hygiene can be, shall we?

In ancient Egypt most people bathed daily in the river or out of a water basin at home. Wealthy homes had a bathroom where servants would pour jugs of water over their master (equivalent to a modern day shower). A cleansing cream made of animal or vegetable oil mixed with powered lime and perfume was used instead of soap. People rubbed themselves daily with a perfumed unguent oil that had soaked in scented wood. The mixture was left in a pot until the oil absorbed the wood scent. Perfumed oil was used to prevent the skin from drying out in the harsh climate.

Everybody, I'm sure, has heard of the famous Roman Baths. They were fed by a system of underground furnaces so the bath water was hot then progressively cooler. The baths were segregated by gender and it was a social event, the business meeting of the day for many roman males. During their peak a Roman citizen could get a meal, have some lively conversation, do a bit of exercises and move from a hot pool, to a warm pool, to a cool pool to cleanse his body. Bath slaves were available to do the washing for a fee and even to remove unwanted and unsightly body hair if desired. Romans would often spend an entire afternoon at the baths during it's peak, mingling and chatting up his friends while lounging naked in the warm water. They had soap, a skill learned maybe from ancient Germanic tribes, but they would cleanse the body by scraping off dirt and sweat using scented oils and a tool called a strigil. The Romans had some standards of cleanliness as baths were built everywhere the Roman army went, where possible.

Greece was also known for use of the bath house. They would engage in similar pursuits as their Roman neighbors, of exercising and fitness while in the bath houses, which is where the word Gymnasium comes from (Gymnos-naked).

In Ancient Jewish society ritual baths were done in a Mikvah.

"A mikveh must hold at least 40 seahs of water (approximately 60 gallons). The whole body of the person or vessel to be purified must be totally immersed. And, most significant for our purposes, the water must be "living" water. That is, it must come directly from a river or a spring or from rainwater that flows into the pool; it may not be drawn. To meet this latter requirement, the rabbis permitted the use of an otter, a pool of living water that was connected by a plugged pipe to the main immersion pool. The main pool could be filled with drawn water (not qualified for use in ritual immersion), and when needed, the pipe between the otter and the main pool was unplugged, allowing the qualified, living water from the otter to come into contact with the water in the main pool, rendering it fit for immersions."
Eshel, Hanan."The pools of Sepphoris: ritual baths or bathtubs? They're not ritual baths." Biblical Archaeology Review, July-August 2000; 26:4 p.42-45

Say "Vikings" and you probably think of a hoard of hairy men dressed in furs and swinging humongous axes at their enemies head while raiding and raping villages. And you'd be right, mostly. But did you know the Vikings who settled in England were actually known for "excessive cleanliness"? They would bath once per week, with soap (made from rendered fats and ash and scented with herbs). The would also use tweezers to groom their facial hair, ear cups to clean out their ears and willow branches and mint to clean and groom their teeth. Nice to know that your friendly viking raider would have better breath that you.

During the Middle Ages bathing occurred more that you would think. People in castles had greatest access to heated water, would bath in wooden tubs. In decent weather this might be done outdoors in the garden. Many lords even employed a servant just for the preparation of family baths. Public baths were available still until around the 1200s when they began to decline due to the costs of fueling the fires and deforestation for crops. After the decline of the public baths the general population at large began to bathe less frequently, having to rely on a barrel of water that the family would share, unheated as many could not afford the extra fire wood needed to heat the water. After the horrible rise of the black plague, bathing became controversial as bathing was believed, by some, to open the pores to noxious vapors, allowing for infection to enter into the body.

During the Renaissance, perfumes and cosmetics were all the rage amongst the Royals, and the masked a multitude of scents and aromas from unwashed bodies as bathing again started a decline (you were thought to bring the devil into your body if you submerged fully into water) Glass mirrors were coming in fashion and women were drawn to makeups to rouge their cheeks, redden their lips and cover pock marks. Lead was used in face powders to give ladies a radiant pale hue to the skin and they even took drops of belladonna to 'widen their eyes' (belladonna is a hallucinogen and would also cause hallucinations, blurry vision and intoxication. What we do for beauty...) Hair dying was all the rage, using bleaching agents, saffron, henna powders brought back from the east and other various substances and herbals. Vanity was in vogue!

The Regency period of England is a time period often used in romance novels as a time of wild passions and steamy affairs with rakish handsome lords and delicate beautiful women. Think of Jane Austen and you'll know which time I'm talking of. But were these handsome rouges clean? Well..maybe not. Most people had taken up the habit of daily washing of hands, neck and face. But full bathing was still not done on a daily basis. Ladies of great wealth and distinction would often spend hours getting dressed, writing letters during this time, getting their hair done by their maids after a quick sponge bath, applying make-up and perfumes and even gossiping with friends as many times other women would stay over in the grand ladies houses. A hip bath done was used in private for a more thorough cleaning.

During the early parts of the Victorian era, bathing still was largely not done frequently by the general population. Outbreaks of cholera, influenza and typhoid began to urge on investigations into the cleanliness of public water, which was largely polluted in Europe with sewage. Public health bills were passed to ensure proper drainage of water to new homes and that the water supply would be clean and dependable.
In the states during the peak of the civil war, soldiers were going weeks without bathing of any kind or even clean changes of clothes. Diseasse was again running rampant and war spurred on the spread of infections. This didn't change as America pushed west. Ranchers and cowboys and pioneers simply did not have the resources or time for a full daily bath, and often would wash just their faces and maybe hands daily and employ a full bath once a week. You could pay for a bath in a hotel if you wished, where hot water was available, though you probably would not be bathing alone, but rather in a room with other men who could afford the luxury. In 1884 the first soap to be pre-cut and wrapped was launched: it was called Sunlight. After that, other brands were developed and soap advertising began to reflect the changing social values attached to cleanliness.

During the 1920s and 30s life expectancy rose sharply. Hygeine in general was much improved and antibiotics were being used to treat infections. Great understanding of diseases lead to greater emphasis on cleanliness in general.

I hope you enjoyed my little brief tour of history. In todays modern world we have an obsession with soaps, lathers, pastes, shampoos, powders, creams, lotions salves and foams. We put emphasis on chemical beauty and take it so far as to rub antibacterial agents all over our skin to rid ourselves of all germs, good and bad. It's intersting to see how the tables have turned in our world. Men and women got together for thousands of years and made babies, all without modern breath mints, tooth paste or deodorant. As we move back (some of us) to more "crunchy" natural methods of cleaing our bodies, eschewing the toxins that are all around us, it's good to know that it can be done, with a little modern science, research and common sense it can be done in a healthy and pleasant way!