I've let 4 days go by without stepping on to my soapbox and proclaiming (to almost no one) what I'm thinking about or how I see the world. Okay, who just said, "Who cares?"
My fans, well, actually just my youngest son, are prodding me to blog more frequently than I have in the recent past. It's so hard to be in demand...
Topic for today is "Why the Saturday Night Bath Tradition Died". For many years, during the 1800s and into the early 1900s, people only bathed about once a week. Perfume companies did a booming business and people all smelled, so no one knew the difference. Then the population of the country started to increase and people spent more time in each other's company and some clever person invented (or re-invented, because the Romans, and other ancient civilizations had it and used to take frequent baths) indoor plumbing. Obviously a smattering of individuals started bathing more frequently and they smelled good. Those who didn't bathe as often stood out in a crowd--literally. Peer pressure, a continuation of the population growth and the invention of Irish Spring made it mandatory that everyone bathe regularly. Shampoos and conditioners came along, making hair "bathing" a regular hygiene activity as well, and, then the loofa, the nylon scrubby poof, shower gels and the like made taking a bath or shower a big deal and a big industry for the likes of Colgate-Palmolive and Procter and Gamble. Politicians and economists spoke in favor of boosting the GNP by buying products from these and other companies, and that's why the Saturday night bath tradition died or was embellished and expanded to include every night of the week. The end.
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4 comments:
Personally, I think we're missing something from the old days of which you speak. I think that old hag in the Princess Bride calls it "putrescence".
Putrescence is such a grand word. Too grand for its meaning and implication. And the good old days were actually just the stinky, good old days. Easier to pronounce and no dictionaries are necessary to understand what is being said.
I think a yearly bath best suits me.
:D
You should be a weapon in Iraq. You could just walk through the streets and all the people would pass out from the stench and then the US/Allied soldiers could search everyone for bombs and weapons and bad things, haul the bad guys and women into jail and move you on to the next town. We'd have a victory in a very short time... And the people who make Febreze would be ecstatic!
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