Every era has something strange or creepy aspects about it, even our own, but the Victorian era in particular has always fascinated many.
Between the freak shows, mummies, and post-mortem photographs, there’s no lack of content to dig into involving this period.
So buckle up as we take a trip back to learn about the 7 chilling facts about Victorian era life!
7. Chimney Sweeping Children
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Because of the lack of education and proper respirators, chimney sweeping had become a very dangerous job, although it needed to be done since it was so high in demand.
There were too few people and too many chimneys, so people started to hire younger boys, whom they dubbed climbing boys.
Shortly after, the children became the preferred people to do the job. Due to their small size, they could fit into the chimney better than any adult.
These boys were either poor or lived in orphanages, and sometimes they were even kidnapped or sold and made to work for the master chimney sweepers.
These boys had to climb up the chimney with a long flat brush held above their heads to clean out the chimneys, some of them were as young as 4 years old.
In 1788, a bill was passed to stop boys under the age of 8 from becoming an apprentice. For more than 20 years the bill went largely ignored until the early 1800’s when a new brush was invented that would ultimately replace the boys.
6. Disease
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Disease in this era was not uncommon, and there was very little you could do if you got sick. Have a cough? Have you tried blood-letting? Finger hurt? Have you tried cutting it off? Headache? Have you tried punching yourself in the face?
If you were one of the unlucky ones to get a disease that required surgery, you would have to go to the hospital, where they performed surgery on you while you were still wide awake.
You heard right, you would be fully present during the operation because there was no modern medicine to put you under, nor were there adequate painkillers.
So anything that required them, like childbirth or dental work, people had to bite through the pain while fully conscious.
5. Freak Show
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Dubbed Freak Show, these forms of entertainment were very popular during this Victorian era. People would flock to these shows to see these unusual examples of human lifestyles.
They had to pay a premium to enter, yet the “freaks”, as they were called, were often vastly underpaid and treated poorly.
Most of the people in the show had deformities, either born that way or by accident. The acts consisted of people with extra and lost limbs, women with facial hair, and conjoined twins.
Some of these deformities went even further, and they were named after what they looked like, “frogman” or “human cannonball.”
4. Angel Meadow
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Angel Meadow sounds like a beautiful place – and it was – until it became one of the most savage slums in the Era, ultimately being nicknamed “Hell on Earth.”
The only safe way to see this meadow was from the carriage of a train. It had become a place Irish immigrants could go or a refugee.
However, that meant there were 30,000 people shoved into 1 square mile. Illegal fights were arranged there while hundreds watched, along with random fires, looting, and killing.
It was even reported that some of the refugees would catch cats to eat due to the low food source, while children were largely left to fend for themselves.
3. Electropathy
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This was yet another way people electropathy thought they could cure sickness, by shocking it out of you. It was thought up when Luigi Galvani was experimenting with a frog and electricity.
Luigi found that when he pressed two different kinds of metal into the frog, its legs would jump, Luigi thought the frog’s legs moved because of “animal electricity”.
Shortly after, people started wondering how electricity could affect the human body, which then led to people believing it could cure you of your sickness.
It was used for many things like liver problems, stomach aches, and even schizophrenia.
2. Mummies for Medicine
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Yeah, people used to use mummies for medicine, which is part of the reason we have so few mummies today.
It was believed that the remains of a human could cure anything from a headache to a case of epilepsy, and things such as bones, blood, and fat were used as remedies.
There was something known as mummy powder, which is exactly what it sounds like. They would put the powder into anything, like mixing it into their drink or seasoning their food with it.
It was also very common to hold “Mummy Unwrapping Parties”, where rich people would purchase a mummy and hold a party where participants would gather to watch the unraveling.
1. Post-Mortem Photography
Perhaps not that weird since a library of autopsy photos is just a click away, but back then, taking pictures of your dead loved ones wasn’t seen as unusual at all.
As photography was still in its infancy, it was quite expensive to take a photograph. Because of this, many poor people had never taken a photo before.
Upon death, it was customary for the family to pitch in money to have a picture taken, oftentimes with the whole family posing with the dead relative.
Dead children were often donned in their Sunday best, while being propped up on pillows, to give the impression that they are still alive.
The elderly would be held upright by the waist, using what is now known as a post-mortem photography stand.
Thanks for watching! I don’t know, the Victorian Era sounds like a lousy time to be alive.
What do you think? Would you have survived well in that period? Let us know in the comments!
