Fashion Victims - Arsenic Dyes and the Victorians

[BettyO]

Those wacky Victorians would do anything for fashion!

The Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto, Canada has a wonderful exhibit - "Fashion Victims" which runs through June 2016 -

It was not uncommon for the Victorians to use arsenic in a lot of things! Those brightly colored dresses, yes, even fabric book covers of the period (and I have a few), were dyed with arsenic! Wash your hands good after handling! I have also read a few topics on babies of the period who died as a result of sucking on dyed bonnet ribbons - all due to arsenic dyes.

http://www.batashoemuseum.com/exhibition...ndex.shtml

Here is a wonderful article on the subject:

"Staying stylish in the Victorian period could be a dance of death. While industrialization and mass production made more beautiful fashions widely available, the green dresses were dyed with arsenic-based pigments, the mercury necessary to make shiny beaver top hats drove the hatters insane, and all that tulle and cinched corsets contorting women into airy nymphs would not infrequently cause them to tumble into gas lamps and go up in flames."

http://hyperallergic.com/133571/fatal-vi...n-garment/

[Gene C]

When we toured the Lincoln home in Springfield last Oct., they mentioned problems with the dyes used in fabric and wallpaper. They mentioned Sheele's Green.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheele%27s_Green

[BettyO]

A 19th Century ad warning against the dangers of Scheele's Green -

   

[L Verge]

Years ago, I read an article about how ladies were judged on their position in society according to the color of their skin - hence the aversion of white ladies to getting a sun tan. Freckles were fought with mixtures of lemon juice and buttermilk. One source went so far as to say that some ladies took tiny doses of arsenic each day in order to achieve that white, delicate skin color. I think I would have stuck to the white, rice powder that others used to keep their faces white - that's about all that showed on a Victorian lady anyhow!

[Donna McCreary]

In addition to arsenic, other chemicals were used in fashion. When a woman went into mourning, she was required to wear dull, black clothing. The color was "dead black." A veil made of crepe was worn on top of her bonnet and over her face -- for privacy. People were not suppose to speak to a woman with a veil over her face. Crepe was made of silk, which had been repeatedly twisted and treated with a gum residue to reduce its glossiness. It was then soaked in water, rubbed with ash, and allowed to dry and crimp to increase the dullness of its texture. The final step was another gumming or shellacking process. It was not only dull – it was scratchy and smelly.
It soon became discolored due to the shellacking process. It is thought that formaldehyde was used to create crepe. Therefore, when a woman covered her face with a veil, she was breathing in toxic fumes. It gives an entire new meaning to the phrase ‘getting the vapors.”

[Eva Elisabeth]

(01-29-2015 06:47 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Years ago, I read an article about how ladies were judged on their position in society according to the color of their skin - hence the aversion of white ladies to getting a sun tan. Freckles were fought with mixtures of lemon juice and buttermilk. One source went so far as to say that some ladies took tiny doses of arsenic each day in order to achieve that white, delicate skin color. I think I would have stuck to the white, rice powder that others used to keep their faces white - that's about all that showed on a Victorian lady anyhow!

Laurie , Wiki reads: "In the Victorian era, 'arsenic' ('white arsenic' or arsenic trioxide) was mixed with vinegar and chalk and eaten by women to improve the complexion of their faces, making their skin paler to show they did not work in the fields. Arsenic was also rubbed into the faces and arms of women to 'improve their complexion'. In France, Louis Dufresne, taxidermist at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, popularized arsenical soap in a 1793 article in the 'Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle'"
Please notice the left ad reads: "safe - absolutely harmless"...
       
Biology teachers will know (and warn and watch their students)- till the mid-1990s arsenic had been used for taxidermy, i.e. to stuff animals. But the golden age of taxidermy was during the Victorian era, when mounted animals became a popular part of interior design and decor in every “civilized” Victorian home. Taxidermists were also increasingly used by the bereaved owners of dead pets to 'resurrect' them.
   
The Deyrolle Taxidermy Shop in Paris, established in 1831.

[L Verge]

Speaking of taxidermy, right now I have a great horned owl sitting on my dining room table. He is roughly 130-40 years old. He sat on top of our upright piano in the family home my entire life. He was a present to my mother in 1930, on her 16th birthday, given by a very elderly lady friend of the family who said that it had been given to her (already stuffed and mounted) about 1890.

When my mother came to live with me in the 1990s, Hooty came too -- with the stipulation that Hooty would roost in the unfinished portion of my basement (behind a curtain). I have now lived with that owl for 71 years, but we are in the process of finding him a new home in a deserving nature center.

Hooty caused quite a stir two years ago when my house was broken into twice in one week. The policeman who responded to the first break-in could have cared less about searching (I had to request that he do so). The second time, however, three very nice gentlemen came, and while one dusted for fingerprints, the other two searched my entire house. While they were downstairs, I heard an "expletive," and yelled down, "Did you catch him; can I shoot him?" The response back was, "No ma'am, but we almost shot your owl!"

I have no idea who "embalmed" Hooty back in the 1800s, but he intended for Hooty to last for centuries. There's not a feather out of place; his talons are still firmly on the tree limb that is holding him; and those big, yellow eyes still stare right through you.

Harkening back to the Victorian era, there were some magnificent display cabinets constructed to hold preserved birds and other small animals in private homes.

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Returning to the discussion on what our lady ancestors did for fashion: I have seen reference to European ladies of the court having their two bottom ribs removed in order to achieve the tiny waists when corsets had done their best. I believe that it was Empress Eugenie who was the fashion plate that everyone wanted to emulate. In days lacking proper anesthesia and antibiotics, that was quite a risk to take for the sake of a tiny waist.