Do you ever wish you lived in another decade or century? Maybe you’d love to dress like a flapper, see a Shakespearean play at the Globe Theatre during his day, dance with Mr. Darcy or kiss Cleopatra (had to get the gentlemen involved). It’s easy to get caught up in idealized visions of other time periods…
…until we realize it would be more of a nightmare than a fantasy.
The Little Women Effect
In high school I had an obsession/love/fixation for “Little Women” (the book and film, not actual little women you weirdos).
I wanted to be Jo March, the fearless, fiery heroine. I loved everything
about the time and setting. The dresses, the cobblestone streets, the way the characters spoke and interacted, etc. I thought I’d fit right in. Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy and Ashley. We’d be a group. I romanticized it.
Of course I’d love to live during Civil War Era America. Duh. Get me out of this 20th-century hell-hole.
Let’s Get Real Peeps
Recently I read a book about the beginnings of modern anesthesia and surgery. (You might see where I’m going with this now.) Boy oh boy oh BOY did that have me singing a different tune.
These medical breakthroughs occurred during the same time period as my beloved “Little Women,” around the Civil War. However, it was all very experimental, hotly debated and these new methods were not widely used.
To live in the mid-19th century (or before) meant any invasive medical procedure you underwent was done without anesthesia. This included anything from amputations, dental work and removal of tumors, to skin grafts and childbirth.
It was not uncommon for patients to get off the table and run away mid-surgery, or to choose death over what must’ve been torturous pain.
Along with that nightmare, there was little understanding of germs and how bacteria traveled. So, unless you were lucky, your doctor/surgeon most likely didn’t wash his hands or thoroughly clean his instruments before using them on you. This caused more infection, more spread of disease and more death. Cities were incessantly fraught with tuberculosis, smallpox, yellow fever, cholera and typhus. Childbirth often turned deadly due to lack of physician hygiene.
My 1800s rose-colored glasses have officially been removed.
Dat Zombie Jaw Glow
By the way, have you ever heard of Phossy Jaw? No? Well let me brighten your day then!
Phossy Jaw was an affliction incurred through working with white phosphorous-laden match sticks. If you were a match-girl during that time—working in a match factory—chances were you’d come home one day with a toothache and swollen, tender gums.
Your jaw bone would, over time, begin to abscess and the bone would start to FREAKING GLOW IN THE DARK.
Picture a zombie-faced girl with a glow-in-the-dark jaw bone. She had the option of surgery though.
Oh hooray! Please remove my glowing jawbone with no anesthesia! Surgery or death. I can only imagine the kind of grit people had to live through this kind of insanity.
So maybe living in another period of history wouldn’t be super awesome. Ok “Little Women,” I’ll just enjoy you from afar, and be grateful I have access to anesthesia and a Dunkin' Donuts down the road.
Check out the book “Dr. Mutter’s Marvels” if you’d like to learn more about the topics in this post.
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