History Hygiene

When you watch those stunning TV period dramas, do you ever wonder about the bits they don't show - where did the hero go for a "comfort break"? How did the beautiful heroine clean her pearly-white teeth? How often did they take a bath, and what did they use for soap? This book tries to answer these questions and many more. While not written primarily for laughs, it takes a light-hearted look at aspects of human hygiene down the ages, and in a range of cultures across the world.

Our Red Book takes us through stories of first periods, last periods, missing periods, and everything about bleeding that people wish they had been told. Weaving together powerful voices—from teenagers, midwives, Indigenous scholars, Olympic athletes, incarcerated writers, disoriented fathers, elected leaders who fought to make period products free, friends transitioning genders, grandmothers, and lovers—the book invites us on a collective journey of growth and change, with Rachel’s own voice as a guide.

In 1841, a quiet, curious boy who stuttered when nervous committed to becoming a surgeon—a profession then more feared than respected. Through study, persistence, and careful research, Joseph Lister proved that unsanitary conditions contribute to infections. Despite others scoffing at his ideas, Lister slowly changed the way all surgeons work, saving countless lives.

The past was disgusting. Sewage ran into the rivers people bathed in. Doctors drank their patients' urine to diagnose them. This title has plenty of nasty facts to gross you out.

Kids study US history, but do they know what life long ago was really like? The past was full of yuckiness. The sounds, smells, filth, bugs, rats, poor hygiene, lack of dental and medical care, and bad food are not portrayed at today's historic sites, in movies, or in most books about US history. Yet this kind of stuff appeals greatly to kids. The purpose of this book is to de-sanitize the past, present it as it actually was, and help kids come to an understanding of how people put up with it - or didn't even notice.