‘Dirty Old London’: A History Of The Victorians’ Infamous Filth In the 1800s, the Thames River was thick with human sewage and the streets were covered with horse dung, the removal of which, according to Lee Jackson, presented an “impossible challenge.”
What did Victorian London smell like?
The smell of human waste and industrial effluent hung over Victorian London. For centuries the River Thames had been used as a dumping ground for the capital’s waste and as the population grew, so did the problem.
How were the poor treated in Victorian London?
For the first half of the 19th century the rural and urban poor had much in common: unsanitary and overcrowded housing, low wages, poor diet, insecure employment and the dreaded effects of sickness and old age.
What do you think most poor Victorians did with their human waste?
Before we had sewers and flushing toilets, humans disposed of their faeces (poo) and urine (wee) into cesspools. A cesspool was a large hole dug into the ground and lined, usually with brick or stone and then the bottom lined with soil.
What was London like in the late 1800s?
London in the 1800s was a compact city where most people worked within walking distance of home. The narrow winding streets were often crowded with people, horses and carts,with only wealthy people able to travel by private carriage.
What does Queen Elizabeth smell like?
Queen Elizabeth II – the internet says she wore either White Rose by Floris, or L’Heure Bleue by Guerlain. Maybe she wore both, who says you have to stick with one scent? These seem likely choices; a green/sweet floral and a powdery heliotrope, both with a respectable lineage.
What scent does Queen Elizabeth wear?
Queen Elizabeth reportedly wears Guerlain L’Heure Bleue, a spicy citrus with a powdery dry down. It’s been a classic for the fragrance house ever since the scent was created in 1912.
How many children did a normal Victorian family have?
Families were most important to Victorians. They were rather large compared to families nowadays, with an average of five or six children and their organization was also very patriarchal.
What was the life expectancy of a poor Victorian child?
Around one-third of children, and more than half in some poor neighbourhoods, died before they reached the age of five.
Why did the Victorians have so many children?
There was no welfare state to offer you a pension. If you wanted to eat after you were too old to work, the only option was to have enough children to make it likely that one of them would survive and be wealthy enough to support you.
What did the Victorians use instead of toilet paper?
Before that, they used whatever was handy — sticks, leaves, corn cobs, bits of cloth, their hands. Toilet paper more or less as we know it today is a product of Victorian times; it was first issued in boxes (the way facial tissue is today) and somewhat later on the familiar rolls.
How did they go to the bathroom in the 1800s?
Bathrooms were often wood panelled with hand painted, porcelain tiles. For the early, wealthy Victorians the wash stand was a piece of bedroom furniture, with heavy ornamentation and white marble tops. Until plumbing became commonplace in the late 1800s/early 1900s a porcelain bowl and jug were the basin and tap.
What did Victorians call toilets?
Water Closet
A “toilet” was just a dressing table or washstand, a meaning that eventually got flushed away when water closets adopted the moniker. In the 1880s, the earliest flushing water closets were made to resemble familiar chamber pots and commodes.
Where did rich Victorians live in London?
… Of high genteel neighbourhoods, Baker Street, Gloucester Street, Portman Square, the swarm of little streets nestling at the verge of Park Lane and those lying between St. James’s Street and the Great Park, may be taken as examples.
What was London called in the Dark Ages?
Londinium
Londinium was the Roman name given to the settlement they founded on the Thames, after their successful invasion of Britain.
Does Victorian London still exist?
There aren’t many actual Victorian stores left in London, but the development of consumerism and shopping as a pastime in the latter half of the 19th century left an indelible mark on the city.
What was Princess Diana’s scent?
Penhaligon’s Bluebell
Princess Diana’s favourite perfume was Penhaligon’s Bluebell – and you can still buy it today | HELLO!
Which queen only bathed twice?
Queen Isabella of Castile
One example is Queen Isabella of Castile (1451- 1504), who admitted to only having bathed twice in her lifetime.
What time does the Queen go to bed?
It’s said that in order to feel fresh for her daily appointments the Queen always went to bed at the same time every night, 11pm, and slept for eight and a half hours – meaning she woke at 7.30am each day.
What soap does the Queen use?
Royal residences reportedly keep Yardley soaps on-hand, and per Marie Claire, private guests to Windsor Castle are given Yardley products, too.
What is Queen’s Favourite food?
The former royal chef revealed the Queen loves chocolate!
“For a first course she loved the Gleneagles pâté, which is smoked salmon, trout and mackerel. She loved using ingredients off the estate and so if we had salmon from Balmoral from the River Dee, she’d have that, it was one of her favourites.