The Darcy Saga

As you all know, I am currently on vacation and my internet access is very poor. However, I did get this one bit of info and want to pass it along...... The next 2 novels are now listed on Amazon! The bound books that is! Whoo Hoo!!! Here are the links directly to Amazon:

Journeys Beyond Pemberley

The Darcys at Year's End

I do not know what is up with the listed prices; why there is such a large discrepancy. Nor have I the time to test it myself.  I do not see the bound copies noted on Sourcebooks as yet either. When I have the time I will try to contact my Editor for more information, but she is out of the country right now! I just wanted to give you all the heads up. I will be home on the 20th of July, then better able to investigate and update the website properly.

Until then! Tootles!! 

Yep, the Lathan Clan is off to parts unknown! Well, some parts unknown..... Disneyland is fairly familiar! Just wanted to let ya'all know that I will be away from the internet and website to some degree over these next 2 weeks. We are spending part of our time in the mountains, so WiFi access may be sketchy. I will be keeping my eye on any publishing happenings and will do my best to post any news in that quarter if it occurs. But, expect nothing else for a while. I'll miss you, but hope to get lots of writing on Volume 4 done, so that is cool! Have no fear.... I'll be back! Hugs, and God bless, Sharon

As a continuation, of sorts, to my essay on bathing I will address the topic of human waste disposal. I have actually had requests for this topic! Surprisingly there is a long history that is much more complicated and inventive than one might think. I will deal with a few of the specifics, giving a number of links, in a moment. But first I will discuss the various words and phrases to bring clarity to the historical essay.

Toilet: To us Americans this is the plumbing fixture itself. To the British it is both the actual flushing device and the room it sits in. In a moment I will give more details regarding the history of flushing toilets. Etymology-wise, it comes from the French toile> the cloth that was draped over a lady or gentleman’s shoulders while their hair was being dressed. By extension this term eventually applied to the cloth or doily that covered all the dressing table elements, the whole ensemble called the toilette. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries the word usage continued to evolve, always relating to beautifying items and processes, but it was in 1819 that the first reference to ‘toilet’ as a separate room was noted. Even then it did not include washing or waste disposal, but rather what we would call the dressing room. Much later it would come to be used for a bathroom as such, but was probably initially as a coy euphemism along the lines of ‘powder room’ or ‘restroom.’ The use of ‘toilet’ for the porcelain bowl itself is still today not readily accepted in all cultures, many preferring commode or some other nicer sounding word. Generally English written commentaries will boldly talk about ‘toilet history’ while discussing the flushing appliance and human waste disposal; however, no one prior to some hundred years ago would ever have done so.

Privy: An old fashioned term for the outhouse or toilet. Originating in Scotland and the north of England around 1225, the term was an alternative for ‘private.’

Water closet: Strictly speaking this phrase only refers to a flushing toilet in its various incarnations over the centuries, and then in a broader sense to the room where the toilet would reside. As mechanisms for flushing human waste were invented, the people involved would have called it a ‘water closet’ and not a ‘toilet.’

Chamber pot: A bowl shaped container of varying materials (usually porcelain), with a handle that was kept in the bedroom under the bed or in a cabinet or in the dressing room.  The one to the right is dated 1860. Most often, until Victorian times, the chamber pot was nearby, in the bedroom or dressing area. Although eventually replaced in most parts of the world with indoor water closets, chamber pots are still utilized in extremely rural environments. It is from this basic gadget that we get the humorous term ‘potty.’

Commode: From the French and Latin word commode meaning ‘convenient or suitable.’ Until roughly 1850 it referred to a cabinet specifically serving as a washstand with drawers to store soap and towels, (such as above, a 1745 French commode) only then being built with an enclosed area to store a chamber pot. You can see the idea of combining the place to relieve oneself with the notion of washing afterwards, all conveniently located in one spot, took another step here.

Pan closet: A 1750 invention where a chamber pot with a hole was situated over a sealed pan to trap the odors. Nice idea, but apparently not all that effective as it was difficult to clean the sealed pan!

Cesspit: A chamber of various types in which sewage was collected. In the country these pits were often part of the moat or located under the privy or in a location fairly close to the house. In London they were in the cellars! The cesspits were part of the city’s archaic sewer system, which had existed for centuries. But before you get the idea in your head that these sewers were very functional, think again! Here is a short essay on the Sewers of London if you want to know the brutal, smelly truth. Aside from the fact that the drainage was into the streets or directly into the rivers, the pipes were frequently clogged with dead animals and other unmentionable products. Yuck! I will allow your individual imaginations to envision the result of so much standing sewage. Even worse, many houses did not have collection pits so the waste was tossed out the window onto the street…..Which leads me to…..

Loo: This chiefly British word for the toilet/bathroom has an etymology that is debatable. The most common belief, and the one that is the most fun, is that it is a corruption of the French phrase gardez L’eau. Translated: "Watch out for the water" - this would be yelled to warn any passersby that a chamber pot was about to be dumped into the street!

Garderobe: These were small rooms in medieval castles that jutted out from the stone walls with holes in the bottom so waste would fall into the moat or cesspit below. Wooden planks would serve as the sitting surface and sometimes there would be chutes for the waste, but typically it would fall freely. Basically a latrine/toilet/privy….or whatever name you like! Word etymology is of French origin with garder> to watch or guard, and robe> for clothing because these tiny chambers also served as the storage place for their finest clothing. Why would this be, you ask? Believe it or not it was because the stench would keep moths away, thus preserving the garments!

Gong farmer: Also called a gongfermor, this was the Oh-so-lucky guy who emptied the cesspits. The waste, known as ‘night soil’ was collected and taken to places outside the city boundaries. Sometimes it was sold for fertilizer and people could actually make money off their own waste! No doubt this must have been one of the worst jobs ever. Apparently they earned a decent wage, but were only allowed to work at night, had to live sequestered with other gong farmers, and frequently died from the noxious fumes or by falling into the pit. Yeah, too much information! As for the name, all I could find was one reference to ‘gong’ being a term similar to ‘dung.’

Saltpeter man: These men extracted the nitrates from the collected excrement so it could be used to make gunpowder. Frankly, that is enough information for me!

OK, terminology is out of the way! As with many facts I have discovered while studying history, it seems that our ancient ancestors were quite intelligent and forward thinking. Then the centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire with the subsequent plagues that nearly wiped out all of humanity led to an ignorance and stupidity that has only recently been overcome. Sadly it was a time of filth and squalor all the way around. So it is with bathroom habits. Archeological evidence shows that the concept of a flush toilet goes as far back as King Minos on the Island of Crete around 1700 BC and in India around 2000 BC! The Romans and Persians also have extensive evidence of sophisticated systems for washing away human waste. Plumbing in all its applications was something these cultures did very well. In all of these civilizations, however, the bathrooms were public and connected to water drainage structures that were enclosed and separate from other water sources. As I said, very sophisticated and hygienic, but not to the point of commonly appearing in individual houses.

Although various inventions would crop up now and again, it seems that the intervening centuries were primarily ones of the chamber pot or just squatting behind a bush. The medieval garderobe (1000 – 1480s) was a huge step forward, believe it or not, in that no potty emptying was required! Outhouses with deep holes were typical. The age of the Tudors and Stuarts (1485 – 1700) began to see some advancement, especially with creating toilet pots that were comfortable and pretty! Sewer systems, as I noted above, were created and if they emptied into the Thames, so what? Right? At least the act of elimination was a bit more pleasant if the waste was immediately washed away. In time, of course, this would prove to be a tragic problem. London was still a small city, comparatively, but that would change with the Industrial Revolution of the late 1700s onward. The influx of people led to rising disease, stench, and death. But you can read about that on your own.

The first real water closet is attributed to Sir John Harrington in 1596. He was an inventor and also the godson of Queen Elizabeth I. No one knows precisely how his device worked, but it is recorded that his godmother loved it and insisted on having one installed in her palace. She would use it until the day she died, as did Sir John, but the trend never caught on. The story goes that he was ridiculed for his absurd invention, although probably not in front of the Queen, and never built any others. His water closet was later destroyed and it would be nearly 200 years before anyone else tackled the idea.

While creative folks produced elaborate chamber pots with cushioned seats and lovely cabinets to hide them in, other clever men began again considering the concept of a flushing device. The simple fact is, the flushing toilet is literally one of the greatest inventions of all time. Think about it: Without a truly functioning toilet and sewer system, highly populated cities could not exist. London during the Industrial Revolution was the largest city in the world, no debate. It would take nearly a hundred years to catch up, waste management wise, but the rapid increase in human bodies that must relieve themselves led to the serious contemplation of how to fix the problem. Therefore, a ton of men over those decades came up with all kinds of ideas, some that worked and some that did not, and no one person can be given total credit. One thing that is certain is that England was the center of the toilet industry!

I want to give an honorable mention to the earth closet. While some were looking at water as the logical way to deal with waste, others were looking at soil. It would be a battle, of sorts, and we know who eventually won. But for some years the war raged. The earth closet was essentially a kitty-litter type device using absorbent clay or plain old-fashioned dirt to cover the excrement. Various devices were patented. Above is an 1875 model and the ad to the right is from 1881. Outside earth closets were similar to cesspit type outhouses except that buckets of dirt were kept handy to throw onto the waste. Indoor fancier models, like the ones shown here, included dirt reservoirs that dumped into the pot/bucket once used. Queen Victoria preferred the earth closet and installed one at Windsor Castle.

As for the water closet, well, the information is too extensive to do justice to here. Instead I will post the numerous links I found at the end of this essay. Since I primarily am trying to answer the question as to what the Darcys may have used, I will keep to that. In 1738 JF Brondel introduced the valve type flush toilet, but it was Alexander Cummings who improved upon the device and received the first patent in 1775 for the ‘strap’ – basically a chamber pot with a sliding valve between the bowl and the water trap. Others soon followed Cummings lead in rapid succession. The plunger closet was patented in 1777 by Samuel Prosser, and one year later Joseph Bramah patented his version with a more secure hinge valve and in 20 years had installed 6000 of them. I am not a plumber, so am unclear what all this means, but I sure am glad these guys were on the job! These early toilets were self contained and still needed to be manually emptied and cleaned, but did solve some of the issues regarding odor while paving the way for toilets that would be linked to sewer or septic systems. That would be an ongoing problem that would not be truly resolved and a standard in most parts of the world until well into the 20th century. With those improvements came the concept of elaborate bathrooms as we have today.

So you can see that the Regency fell smack in the middle of these exciting years of water closet invention! Admittedly, the vast majority of average folks, and even the wealthy, used their porcelain chamber pots. The poor would have no option but to stick with an outhouse or inside pot. The rich could afford something cushy, decorated, and probably hidden away in some capacity. But, it is also quite obvious that the water closet was now an accepted mechanism, not open to the laughter and ridicule of Sir John’s gadget. Personally, before doing all this research, I imagined Lizzy and Darcy having an individual commode type cupboard or closet in their dressing room where their nice porcelain chamber pot was kept. Generally speaking this is probably still possible and not at all unlikely, even though it could just as easily be right in their bedroom. But, considering the Darcy I have written who is enamored with modern inventions, I can actually now see Pemberley sporting a real water closet with a flushing device of some kind! Probably not attached to piping and a septic tank, but maybe one of those Bramah versions. What do you think?

Thomas Crapper – This guy gets a lot of credit in the toilet world, but not for what he really did. As cool as it is to think a man with his unfortunate surname invented the flush toilet, he had absolutely nothing to do with it. Rather his claim to fame is as the founder, in 1861, of the Thomas Crapper and Co. Ltd. in London, a plumbing supply business. He was a shrewd businessman and a master plumber who heavily promoted sanitary plumbing and pioneered the concept of the bathroom fittings showroom. He received several Royal Warrants from both King Edward VII and George V. There is not a shred of evidence that the slang terms ‘crap’ or ‘crapper’ are related to him.

Toilet paper - Much to my shock, I discovered that paper for the use of wiping one’s backside was available in China in the 6th century AD! In 589 AD the scholar-official Yan Zhitui (531–591) wrote about the use of toilet paper:

"Paper on which there are quotations or commentaries from Five Classics or the names of sages, I dare not use for toilet purposes."

In 851 a Muslim traveler wrote:

"They (the Chinese) are not careful about cleanliness, and they do not wash themselves with water when they have done their necessities; but they only wipe themselves with paper."

By the 14th century massive quantities of sheeted paper was being produced in China. Still, in other parts of the world cleaning up after doing one’s business was accomplished with whatever was handy. Paper, maybe, but also cloth, moss, wool, hemp, wood shavings, shells, sticks, leaves, grass, hay, feathers, catalog pages, snow, or even a hand! Eew!! Water, of course, when available was the preferred cleaning substance. The Roman public bathrooms kept a sponge adhered to a stick soaking in a bucket of saltwater that would be reused by everyone. Blech! In 1857 Joseph Gayetty sold the first factory-made paper in the US; loose, flat sheets with instilled medicated aloe! Nice. But the first patent for rolled, perforated paper (branded ‘The Standard’) goes to Seth Wheeler of Albany, NY. Between 1871-1883 he obtains a number of patents including ones for the dispenser tubes and brackets, and his company is the first of its kind. The rest, as they say, is history!

Wikipedia: Toilet - start here and follow the links for tons of info

Bog Standard

An Ode to the Commode

Toilet History

Victorian Crapper

History of the Toilet

Who Invented the Water Closet?

OK, I have to brag about our local team! Tonight the Fresno State Bulldogs won the NCAA  College World Series, beating the best seeded teams in the country over the past weeks. Tonight they ended a 3 game World Series with a decisive 6-1 victory, following a 19-10 slaughter last night! In every way possible these guys were the underdogs. Not only were they a baseball team very low in the ranks, working their way to the top spot in a miracle climb that defies sports logic, but they are the first men's team of any kind from our humble California State college to ever win a National Championship! The only other championship won was the women's softball team in 1998. We are very proud of our Bulldogs here in the Central Valley, our football team for the past several seasons gaining momentum and prestige. But our men's baseball team has now blown them all away!! Go Dogs!!!

"Underdogs to Wonderdogs" is the new slogan!

Wonderful news! The Darcys at Year's End is now available as an eBook download! Whoo-hoo!!

Here is the link: The Darcys at Year's End

Let me know what you think of it! If you choose to wait for the bound book, be patient. It should be coming very soon now! I'll keep you all posted! And just a warning: The 'search' features over at the Sourcebooks website are all screwy, so do not trust them. Best to link to my novels directly from here.

Here follows a few brief educational summaries answering a handful of question marks that my Editor had while working her way through Two Shall Become One: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Just thought I would share them with you in case any of these mentions within my story seemed odd or out of place. Plus, I just like to enlighten whenever possible!!

Silk: A natural fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The highest quality silk is obtained from the cocoons made by the larvae of mulberry silkworms – Bombyx mori – and are raised in captivity in a process called sericulture. Other caterpillars produce ‘wild silks’ that do not have the same shimmer that true silk does and are very difficult to harvest and impossible to artificially cultivate. The use of these silks, as well as those produced by spiders and other insects, has always been rare and commercially unprofitable. If interested in this part of the process, Wormspit.com is the site for you!

It was the Chinese, over 4000 years ago, who first cultivated silk and created the sericulture process. Originally only worn by the Emperors, sericulture was a well-kept secret for over 30 centuries! China cornered the market in silk production and it was the staple of their economy, spreading to all parts of Asia, until 300 AD. But, good secrets do finally squeak out, and it was India that stole the recipe. The Byzantine Empire, during the time of Justinian in 550 AD, managed to obtain silkworms smuggled into Constantinople and later the Romans tried to keep the secret of sericulture tightly controlled. Julius Caesar forbid the wearing of silk garments to anyone but him, and even after his fateful demise silk remained a royal fabric for many centuries. However, by the 13th century silk was widely grown and traded. The Italians and later the French would lead the Western world for decades in sericulture. James I of England tried to establish the silk industry in both England and the Americas in the early 1600s with fair success in Kentucky by the Shakers, but total failure in England where it was just too damp for the worms to survive. Instead the industry managed to prosper to a fair degree by obtaining raw threads imported and a few cities blossomed in the trade, especially Manchester, Dublin, Spitalfields, and Derby – where, if you have read Journeys Beyond Pemberley, you know the oldest silk mill in all of England still stands! Here is a short essay on the silk industry in England.

Despite the proliferation in the industry and trade relations, silk remained rare and moderately expensive; a fabric for the rich. Even today, although far more available, it is costly and greatly supplanted by cheap synthetics like nylon. The stunning gown worn by Keira Knightley in the amazing movie Atonement (left) was entirely of silk. Anyway, all this is to verify the commonness of silk as a fabric that has been around for millennia and readily available to the masses of England during the Regency, especially those who were fortunate enough to not worry over finances!

Taffeta: -noun 1) A medium- or light-weight fabric of acetate, nylon, rayon, or silk; usually smooth, crisp, and lustrous, plain woven, and with a fine crosswise rib effect. 2) Any of various other fabrics of silk, linen, wool, etc. in use at different periods. Origin: 1325-75, Middle English taffata from the Turkish tafta and Persian taftah> silken or linen cloth; related to Persian taftan> to twist or spin.

Taffeta originated in Persia and was exclusively made from silk. In respect to class and demand for luxuriousness, it was on par with satin made from silk; a ‘high end’ fabric preferred for ball gowns, wedding dresses, and draperies. Even today, although taffeta can be woven from synthetic threads, pure silk taffeta is the best. It has a glossy, polished appearance and can be woven with different methods to be stiff or soft. Above is another beautiful photo of Keira Knightley in silk taffeta at the 2006 Oscars. In the West taffeta gained its greatest popularity during the Tudor years as a favored fabric for the dresses of noble ladies. Detailed descriptions of Queen Elizabeth’s wardrobe extensively mentions taffeta, especially for the farthingales (hoop skirts). Shakespeare mentions it in Twelfth Night:

"Now, the melancholy god protect thee; and the tailor make thy doublet of changeable taffeta, for thy mind is a very opal!"

And he also has a quote in Henry IV when Prince Hal compares the sun to "a fair hot wench in flame colored taffeta." Now, considering Matthew Macfadyen played Prince Hal on the London stage, I am really loving this reference! The creator of human flight in a hot air balloon, Joseph Montgolfier, used taffeta for his balloons in 1782. And, according to the Judiciary of England and Wales, taffeta has been one of the designated fabrics for judges’ robes since 1635.

Porcelain: A strong, vitreous, translucent ceramic material, biscuit-fired at a low temperature, the glaze then fired at a very high temperature. The name derives from the French porcelaine, which is the name for a cowry shell (below). The cowry shell derives its name from the Italian porcellana which means ‘of a young sow’ due to the shell’s resemblance to a pig’s back! I found that convoluted name evolution fascinating! I have seen lots of shells and pigs, and can’t say I get the resemblance. It’s a mystery!

Porcelain was first produced in China roughly 2000 years ago combining white kaolin clay and petuntse rock, and fired at incredibly high temperatures. The distinctive methods employed by the Chinese created fine ceramic vessels so valuable that by the 1500s the term ‘china-ware’ was synonymous with porcelain. Above is a statue of Chinese porcelain dated 1735. Other countries, including England, attempted to reproduce porcelain, but these lesser types of porcelain, usually utilizing ground glass, are not as hard. Still, these porcelains are quite fine with unique qualities and artistry all their own. Incidentally, bone china was invented in England! Keen to produce porcelain of a quality to rival true porcelain, it is attributed to Thomas Frye in 1748 and Josiah Spode later in the century who began mixing ox bone ash with kaolin and Chinese stone, thus creating the hardest china/porcelain of all. Go Englishmen! Below is an etching of Spode in his factory and the dish set is a Spode creation from the early 18th century called 'Regent.' The Spode porcelain factory is still in operation today in Stoke-on-Kent.

Playbill or Event Programme: I am sure you all know what these are! The question is if theatre performances of 200 years ago offered them. Well, yes!

The Templemen Library of theatre playbills has an extensive collection of London playbills, the oldest ones dating 1822, including Covent Gardens and Drury Lane. They also have collections of provincial theatres about England, the oldest dated 1798, another from Bath dated 1802, and several others from the first two decades of the 1800s. The Royal Edinburgh website claims to possess a collection of playbills dating from 1807 onward. Another site, the University of Sheffield library, has a collection of programmes from Drury Lane and Covent Gardens dating 1789-1838. These three websites are just a sample of the dozens I found for the UK, Europe, and US by doing a simple Google search. The two photos placed here are from 1718 and 1793.

Steel: An alloy consisting mostly of iron, with carbon or various other alloying elements such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten. Steel in one form or another has been produced as far back as 1400 BC in Africa, and was used extensively by the Roman military and the Chinese. Blister steel and crucible steel were techniques born in the 16th and 17th centuries in England, both of a higher quality than the ancient alloys. Crucible steel is still to this day the finest, toughest, and most precise steel, but it is more expensive. The English invention of the patented Bessemer process in 1855 would change the face of the steel industry, being able to cost-effectively mass-produce a supreme quality product. Numerous countries reaped the benefits of steel production, England only one of them, with forward-thinking, smart men investing financially and growing rich….such as Darcy! Wikipedia has an excellent section with numerous links for further reading.

The time has come to draw a close to my series on Regency servants. The first three parts covered the inside staff and here are the links to find them directly:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

In general it appears that the inside staff consisted of a larger array of servant types with delineated duties and ranks. There was a definite hierarchy that I could not find referenced as vigorously in the outside staff members. I do not think that this is because those who worked beyond the Manor’s walls were any less important to the overall survival of the house – in fact one could almost argue they were more important. The three general categories of outside staff are the stable personnel, gamekeepers, and groundskeepers.

The Stable Staff: Consisting of the coachmen, grooms, and stable boys, these were the males who kept the stable environs running. In this agricultural/pastoral era of pre-automobiles or trains, I think it easy to fathom how vitally imperative horses and all the trappings were. Not only for the basic needs of transportation since one could literally go nowhere of any significance without a horse, but because the very livelihood of the entire estate depended on horses. Sure, they may have utilized oxen or some other beast of burden here and there for various tasks, but the horse was the cornerstone. Due to this accepted reality, even modest establishments exalted the stable complex to near equal status with the main house and hired a troupe of skilled employees to attend to the animals’ needs.

In the midst of discussing the staff I will include some information about the stables themselves. Sort of an essay within the essay! The British Stable is a book by Giles Worsley and apparently has wonderful historical information regarding the evolution of stables, the architecture, and the attitude toward horses. Here is one quote from the article about his book:

"Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century quadrangular stables were limited to royal palaces and the Earl of Northumberland, but Worsley suggests that in the eighteenth century the form was taken over by the new real rulers of the country: the prime minister and the great landowners. The continuing high status of horses in polite society is indicated by the way Roger Morris's quadrangular stables at Althorp overshadow the neighbouring mansion, and it is hinted (perhaps heretically) that James Paine's stables at Chatsworth may even compete with 'the rather confused ducal residence they serve.’"

The above photo is the stable complex at Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire. Information on the Chatsworth stables is easy to find and the next two photos are of the entrance and inner courtyard respectively.

It is 190 feet square, has two complete storeys, and had 80 horse stalls in its functioning days. I could certainly see Darcy, as I have written him with his obsession for horses, having a structure as enormous if not perhaps so grandly designed. The Darcy wealth, in actuality, probably could not compare to that of the Duke of Devonshire! Nonetheless, an estate the size of Pemberley, even without my added plot device of having Darcy raise thoroughbreds as part of his wealth, would require a massive structure to comfortably and healthily house the dozens of horses necessary just for the usual requirements.

In fact, the entire livestock campus would likely include several barns and buildings in addition to the main stable structure. The principal focus to the stables was the roomy private stalls placed in a central location with excellent ventilation, the ability to heat in the winter, appropriate light, and easy access to the feeding troughs, hayloft storage, and grooming areas. Everything that occurred in and around the stables was for the express purpose of keeping these noble but ofttimes fragile animals in prime condition. Granaries, numerous storage areas for the livery and equipment, the garage, sleeping quarters, the smithy, and offices would just be the basic essentials. Add on the immense open areas and corrals for exercise and training and it is plain how much space the complex would consume.

Grooms, assisted by stable boys (otherwise known as apprentice grooms!) were in charge of caring for the horses directly. Brushing, feeding and watering, exercising, training, and examining. They were veterinarians of a sort, expected to watch for any ailments and treat accordingly. They daily mucked and washed each stall, inspected the harnesses and other tack, and shoed the horses as needed. If the horses were involved in sports or racing then the groom would be expected to travel with the horses and provide support services during the competition. Additional helpers may include a blacksmith, farrier, wheelwrights, and leather workers.

The Head Groom, or Stablemaster, would oversee all these aspects of the stables, as well as coordinate with the Master, Steward, and coachmen regarding supplies and any problems. He would devise training schedules for the horses, accommodate the household’s riding and driving needs, provide lessons in horsemanship, and ensure that a groom was available at all hours of the day and night to fulfill the family’s demands.

The coachmen were in charge of the carriages and were the designated driving specialists. Being able to competently drive a carriage, especially those four- to six-horse drawn coaches of the day, required intense concentration and incredible proficiency. It was a mastery highly praised and sought after, not only by the public coaching companies and mail transports, but also by wealthy gentlemen. In fact, it was so esteemed a skill that many gentlemen considered it a challenge to be able to drive a carriage themselves, although very few did beyond the smaller variety. Simply stated, the average person could not possibly manage a heavy coach without years of experience, and the amateur knew this and, if wise, would not risk his life out of pride. Here is a short but interesting page link on Gentlemen Coachmen.

So the coachman’s prime duty was to hone his driving skill and care for the carriages, although naturally he would be expected to be an equine expert as well, usually starting life as a groom. The more prestigious and industrious the estate, the more dedicated this position was with the coachman far too busy with his tasks to cross over as a groom, and the number of coachman could be large. Modest households, such as Longbourn, would not be able to extend this luxury, the coachman and groom probably the same two or three fellows. The coachman’s portion of the stable complex was where the array of carriages were housed. Private equipage ranged from the simple gig or horsecart to the elegant coaches. All would be daily inspected, maintained and repaired, kept meticulously cleaned and polished, stocked as ordered, and prepared for use. The coachman was additionally a mechanic, knowing down to the last spring and bolt how the vehicle was constructed.

The garage facilities (or carriage house – the appropriate term) would include rooms filled with equipment and accessories, and a smithy for repairing metal parts (as well as creating horseshoes). They may be attached to and part of the stables, or a separate building located nearby. A wealthy landowner or aristocrat of the day could easily rival Jay Leno in his desire for collecting costly vehicles! Various carriages had specific uses, to be sure, so the desire for different types was a sensible need. However, the manly passion for stylish conveyances did not begin with the age of automobiles, but rather with fine horses of unique breeds and luxurious carriages. These were their Rolls Royces and they were housed accordingly. The carriages of the wealthy, both large and small, were elegantly equipped with rich silk damask fabrics upholstering the seats and beautifully painted and gilded crests embellishing the doors. Accessories might include pistols stored in hidden slots, wine or other spirits stowed in a special compartment under the seat, a beautifully made carriage clock, brick or metal lined hollows in the floorboard to place heated stones, traveling lamps for illumination, and rich fur lap robes.

Groundskeeper: Far more than simple gardeners, these men were in charge of every last chore related to maintaining the fabulously landscaped and sculpted parks of the wealthy. As with the two above servant categories, I could write a whole essay on gardening history, but will instead post a few links at the end. Suffice to say, the knowledge of plants and all the accompanied beautifications, such as fountains, follies, mazes, statues, and so on, was a well established art and science with extensive historical precedence. The English certainly did not invent the elaborate gardening landscape ideal, but they brought their own style and techniques to the endeavor. Over the centuries the trends evolved and changed, just as clothing fashions did, often influenced by other cultures. The French inspiration of formalized, symmetrical gardens – such as seen at Chatsworth – gradually waned in the latter 18th century to a more natural feel with curved pathways and rounded ponds and vegetation allowed to assume a freeform growing pattern. The drawing above is of Longleat in Wiltshire  as designed in 1700. Early drawings of Chatsworth are similar. Over time natural influences have altered Chatsworth Park to what it is today, but the symetrical style remains. Go to my Portrait Gallery for tons of photos of Chatsworth....my Pemberley inspiration.

The glory of gardening: hands in the dirt, head in the sun, heart with nature.
To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul. Share the
botanical bliss of gardeners through the ages, who have cultivated philosophies
to apply to their own - and our own - lives: 
Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are.
 Alfred Austin, 1835-1913

Through all various changes one factor was constant: those men who perfected their art and tended with loving care. I confess that I could find nothing that gave specifics as to the day-to-day activities of a groundskeeper in the Regency or any other era. I think it easy to imagine that this job, not one that is exactly a piece-of-cake today, must have been extremely arduous without the aid of gas powered hedge clippers and riding lawnmowers! Looking at photographs of Chatsworth Park and the other great manor house grounds, I simply cannot fathom how many men it would take to keep those gardens pristine. And aside from the gardens planted for enjoyment and beauty, there were the extensive areas of vegetables, fruits, and herbs for the family’s food.

Some facts I did learn: Pesticides as we know of them did not exist, although various chemicals such as sulfur, mercury, arsenic, and nicotine were utilized. Watering fountains have graced yards for millennia, originally using the natural flow of water pressure, but as early as the 13th century engineers began inventing pumps to force water to rise higher and create sophisticated designs. The first lawn mower (pictured here) was invented by English engineer Edwin Beard Budding in 1827 after he noticed a machine with revolving blades on a cylinder that was used in textile mills to shear the nap of velvet. Tired of using a scythe by hand, the only way to cut grass up until then, he invented a mower very similar to the classic manual-type mower used today! Suttons Seeds is a horticultural supply company in the UK, and the official royal provider, and has been in business continuously since 1806.

Additionally, and I will admit this is sheer conjecture based on applied logic, someone had to take care of the structural preservation of the manor itself. Who painted or fixed chips in the stone exterior? Who cleaned all the windows? Who swept the terraces? Who cleaned debris from rooftops and ledges? Who repaired malfunctioning equipment? Who made sure the gargoyles weren’t covered with mold or moss?! You get the point. As vast and complicated as the occupation of gardener with all the various tasks and intelligence that would require, equally daunting must have been the chores necessary to keep the house gorgeous and fully functioning. And then there are the gravel driveways, dozens of paths, the conservatory, and whatever else you can imagine.

Well, there you have it! I hope you enjoyed these four essays and now have a better understanding of what it would take to keep Pemberley the stunning mansion and English estate that we all envision it being. Below are a bunch of links for terrific reading.

BASC: The Gamekeeper

Dovecotes of Nottinghamshire

Dovecotes

Dovecotes of Berkshire

The Hawk Conservatory

Wingmasters
Gardening History Timeline

18th Century Garden History

English Gardens

UK Museum of Garden History

British Garden Styles

Mrs. Beeton - scroll down for stable staff

Stage Travel in Britain

Carriage Horses in Britain

Chatsworth House - entire history including stables

I got a bit of a surprise today when I opened up the Austen Fans website….. Journeys Beyond Pemberley is noted on the main page under What’s New! Here is the link to Austen Fans. Click the title and a new page will open declaring that yours truly has the Sourcebooks #1 bestselling eBook! Yippee!! What a tremendous honor it is, but all the praise goes to you, my faithful readers, who have made this accomplishment possible! I simply do not have the words adequate to express my appreciation.

Each small step along my publishing/writing pathway of dreams is a gift from Above. I am delirious with joy and overcome with gratefulness. Bless you all, from the bottom of my sentimental heart!

Other notes: The page for Journeys Beyond Pemberley also includes the blurb I wrote for the back cover, a link to buying the eBook (with a free bookmark offer!), and a link to the entire first chapter. Nice! While at Austen Fans check out my Author’s Page which has both books now side-by-side. Hopefully very soon we shall see The Darcys at Year’s End right there too! There are many other authors listed from the Austen world and Romance genre as well as tons of informational pages on Jane Austen. Worth checking out!

 

Here's a bit of silliness for a Thursday afternoon! This link: Who is your literary lover?  There is a fun Q&A test to discover who your match from the literary world will be. See if you can come up with Mr. Darcy! I answered honestly and got Daniel Deronda, the main character of the novel bearing his name, written by George Eliot (who was actually Mary Ann Evans) in 1876. I have never heard of this novel, I confess, being a classic literature ignoramus! He is touted as the ‘sensitive and sweet’ hero and according to Wikipedia is selfless and modeled after Moses! Yikes! Have fun and let me know what you got!

 

For any men who may wander by, to all the daddies who raised the ladies who wander by, and to the men in your lives who bless you by watching the kiddies so you can wander by....

What Makes a Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The joy of a morning in spring,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so,
He called it ... Dad
~~Author Unknown.~~

When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years. ~ Mark Twain

Father! - to God himself we cannot give a holier name.  ~William Wordsworth

It is a wise child that knows his own father. ~ Homer

My friend Sarah found this funny but informative link and I just had to share it with you! How Rich is Fitzwilliam Darcy? Just in case the link does not work, go to Google videos (NOT YouTube as I did at first!) and type in the above title; hopefully that will pull it up as it easily did for me. I had no idea who Brad DeLong was so at first thought it might just be a joke, but I looked him up and he - "is a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley and a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Department of the Treasury in the Clinton Administration. He is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and is a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco." Whew! All that to let you know he probably knows what he is talking about! Ha!! He gives this 3 minute blub called his Morning Coffee with Mrs. Bennet voices and everything! Gotta check it out! Thanks Sarah for the head’s up!

Portrait Gallery: I am still adding photos from time to time to The Darcy Saga Complements album part of the gallery. I do not add those to the Recent Additions as the whole album is new. Just wanted to pass that information along and encourage you all to check it out from time to time for new photos. Everything is fascinating and offered with a short explanation so even if you have not read the portions following Two Shall Become One it will still be entertaining and pretty!

Matthew Macfadyen: Thanks to Topix for directing to this link: Coolfotodudes.com That is the Home Page with a menu to the right; click on ‘person index’ then scroll WAY down the list to ‘Matthew Macfadyen.’ There are two entries for him, the latest from the April BAFTA Red Carpet. There are 16 pics all together, very candid shots, all amazing in one way or another….How could they not be?! I selected a few and added them to the Gallery. Thanks K for the direction and thanks Foto Dudes for sharing! Be warned, though – there are a ton of other celebrities on the list so one could get lost there permanently!

Recent Additions Album: In the random course of my searching for the perfect photo of Matthew or to accompany my Saga, I stumble across other photos of Chatsworth or whatever. A few of those I have also included into the Recent album for your viewing pleasure. Plus there are a handful of select Matthew photos for you to drool over!

Journey to Pemberley: Or, A Walk to Meryton, or some other cute title yet to be decided! This is the ‘get together’ that is spoken of in Darcy Chat. Just commenting here that this idea is not a wild scheme but a legitimate event that we are utterly serious about seeing happen. Please read the message in the forum, think on it, and take the time to write a yeah reply if you think it something you are even remotely interesting in. We need to know if there is genuine interest before proceeding with specific planning. Come on ladies! You know it will be great fun and I want to meet all of you!!

…..the first American bathtub was installed and dedicated so recently as December 20, 1842…..The bathtub was then still a novelty in England. It had been introduced in 1828 by Lord John Russell and its use was yet confined to a small class of enthusiasts. Moreover, the English bathtub, then as now, was a puny and inconvenient contrivance -- little more, in fact, than a glorified dishpan -- and filling and emptying it required the attendance of a servant. Taking a bath, indeed, was a rather heavy ceremony, and Lord John in 1835 was said to be the only man in England who had yet come to doing it every day……

Very interesting, you say? Indeed. Thanks, Sharon, for keeping us so informed! Aah, you are very welcome. I do my best! Too bad the above quote is complete and utter hooey! Yep, flimflam, hokum, claptrap, baloney…sorry, got lost in the thesaurus. The above excerpt comes from a December 1917 article in New York’s Evening Mail by H.L. Mencken (right) and was a hoax all the way through. As fascinating as the story behind Mencken’s little joke as a way to lighten up during a time of war, more intriguing is how the fantastical claims took root and became a standard for what generations since have believed about our ancestors and their bathing practices (or lack thereof) and overall hygiene. Despite the numerous attempts to debunk Mencken’s ‘history’ – dozens by Mencken himself – the ‘facts’ from this one article have become the standard idea of the past. Well, allow me to, um, clean up the past, unsoil the myths, scour the net for the truth….you get the picture.

Even if you slept through all your years of elementary and high school history, I am sure you recall the ingenuity and magnificence of the Roman baths (an example above from Bath, England). Then there are the famous sweat houses of the American Indians and steam rooms of the Greeks. These are just a few well-known example of the lengths our ancestors would go to for cleanliness. However, the purpose of this essay is to enlighten as to bathing practices during the Georgian age in England, so I will not go into the depths of bathing history in total. Suffice to say there is extensive information out there and despite some of our pre-conceived notions of how filthy and stinky everyone was up until the days of inside showers, the truth is somewhat different. Concepts and methods of staying clean altered greatly, but the awareness of being clean is not a 20th century phenomenon. I will provide some great links at the end for your reading pleasure and education.

What I found interesting as I researched the topic are the varied opinions. My personal thought on this is that generalizations about whole cultures or classes of people are often arrived at based on little definitive information. The aptly named Dark Ages and the eras that followed are steeped in mystery to some degree. What first-hand writings remaining are often contradictory. What does seem to be fairly clear is that the Europe of this time had diverged greatly from the Roman and Oriental influence in regards to bathing. The two main reasons for this lack in hygiene were the involvement of the Church and a primitive concept of infectious disease. In brief, the Church became outspoken regarding the supposed sin and self-indulgence that surrounded the public bathhouses of the day, (note the 1597 drawing above, and the 1400 one above that), and people began to identify a connection between the epidemics and diseases that were rapidly spread through poorly maintained and constructed lead viaducts and contaminated water supplies. There was absolutely truth in both points, but like many things in life, the massive swing to the opposite end of the spectrum was rife with errors also. The Church pushed the idea that bathing was a form of vanity, leading to immorality and sexual sin. Visible dirt and odor was considered a sign that one’s focus was outside themselves, upon God and family. It was also believed to be a protection from plaques, protecting the skin from unsanitary waters. Strangely and unbelievably enough, the smell was not off-putting, especially when hid under layers of clothing and perfumes. Quite frankly, their olfactory nerves were probably deadened, or extremely tough! As an aside, perfumes during those decades were not to mask your own odor, but for you to smell something pleasant rather than the odor emanating from the fella next to you!

Naturally there were exceptions to this pervading attitude. The centuries of cleanliness were not all that easy to eradicate and many people continued to wash and bath as often as was possible. Queen Elizabeth I was known for her adherence to bathing, adding the first indoor bathroom to Windsor Castle. The business of making soap in England was so financially solvent that King James I, in 1622, granted a massive monopoly to a soap maker so he could reap the monetary benefits. Napoleon Bonaparte was fanatical about bathing, to the point that a tub of hot water was constantly kept near him so he could submerge whenever the fancy struck. (one of his tubs, now modernized, is directly above; above that is an excavated Roman tub). The Regency Era Duke of Wellington took a daily bath and was considered odd for doing so, but nonetheless the practice was emulated. Historical and archeological evidence proves that bathtubs, primitive showers, bathrooms, and so on existed. Precisely how wide-spread the practice was or was not is very difficult to ascertain, and there is equally strong verifications for both sides of the argument.

But yet the undisputable facts seem to be that bathing, as we know of it – ie: a daily occurrence – was simply not the case until well into the 19th century. The key there is the phrase "as we know of it." Water sources were irregular and not always fresh. The average person did not have the time to heat bucketfuls of water, or even lug cold ones, to provide a frequent tub bath. Soaps, tubs, and other bathing adjuncts were costly. Centuries of traditions, superstitions, false information, and plain old-fashioned ignorance were hard to overcome. Plumbing was in its infancy. The sad truth, no matter how hard we may wish to paint it pristine in our Merchant/Ivory idea of England, folks were not lily white and smelling sweet. Sorry.

Nonetheless, it was not as gloomy during the Georgian/Regency and beyond as the years prior. So take heart! As with many aspects of those years on the brink of revolution, the tide was turning. A great portion of the thanks can go to wise men, often sadly thought of as quacks, who extolled the virtues of sea bathing and ‘taking the waters’ at the rapidly increasing number of mineral spas. These men preceded those who would finally identify bacteria and viruses, but they instinctively and, in some cases, through scientific observation and research, began to recognize the hidden horrors in filth. The continued incidence of diseases and plagues in spite of avoiding unclean water led to the inevitable question: Why? The result of this question would lead to a multitude of amazing discoveries and changes in practice. The mid-1700s onward spawned a revival in the concept of cleanliness with ancient Roman bath towns, like Bath, being revitalized and their buried secrets revealed. Seaside towns like Brighton and Weymouth launched a massive tourist trade that would not only affect bathing, but also travel aspects like improved road conditions, overnight accommodations, and public transportation. Sure, much of the glamour of such places was the socialization, but gradually the joy of just being clean did catch on. It helped to have the celebrities of the day – John Nash, the Prince Regent, and Lord Admiral Nelson just to name a few – lavishly extol the virtues to be had in the waters and how robust their health as a result.

"My health, thank God, is very near perfectly restored, and I have very near the perfect use of my limbs, except my left arm." Wrote Nelson after a visit to Bath to recuperate from battle wounds.

Now, to the specifics of the time. Would Lizzy and Darcy have bathed frequently? And how would they have done so? Excellent questions! And, as hard as I have tried to find an absolute, no debate answer, I just can’t. There appears to be wide variations in what very knowledgeable historians have decided are the ‘facts.’ Here are a few quotes:

"Every house of every nobleman or gentleman, in every nation under the sun, excepting Britain, possesses one of these genial friends to cleanliness and comfort (bath tubs)." Regency Etiquette, the Mirror of Graces (1811)

 

"Baths were seldom taken and when they were, it was a hip bath filled with hot water brought up from the kitchen by the servants. For everyday washing, the washstand was devised to hold a basin and ewer and gentlemen had their specialized shaving stands." Classic Georgian Style

 

"Along with immaculate tailoring, Brummell advocated scrupulous washing and freshly laundered linen." Jane Austen, a Companion by Josephine Ross

 

"The habit of washing the body and the introduction of wash basins and portable bath tubs began to spread among wealthy households in the late 18th century….Most people, even in the highest social stratum, hardly washed anything except their faces, necks, hands and feet….There is evidence to suggest that carelessness in personal hygiene was more common among upper class women in England than abroad." The Family, Sex & Marriage in England 1500-1800 by Laurence Stone

 

"Baths and bathrooms were certainly more prevalent than water closets. Most baths were portable and made of painted wood, sometimes dignified with a marble finish." Regency Style by Steven Parissien

So you can see that the practice obviously varied from person to person and house to house. But before we make a final decision on just how sparkling clean the Darcys may have been, let me give some more history.

It was during the Regency that the first patents for a flush toilet (more on that topic in a later essay) and the shower would be granted. In 1810 the English Regency Shower was invented. Unfortunately I could not find a drawing of the device, but it is described as a 12-foot high tote shower made of metal painted to look like bamboo, consisting of a basin with a drain and hidden tank, with a pump arrangement to force the water to the top basin and then out the hollow poles onto the bather’s head. There were hinges along the top for the curtain. The user, who wore an oiled cap to protect their hair, was as likely to be a man as a woman. Needless to say, it was probably not all that popular a device, and certainly only purchased and used by the wealthy dandy of the day, but the fact that it even existed at all gives credence to the idea that cleanliness was not quite the horrific ideal that some maintain was the standard. Above is a 1830 Victorian shower stool, and below a very fancy 1890 shower cabinet.

The actual ‘bathtub’ has been around forever, literally. Whether it the public type or private, the construction of large basins to put quantities of water in for washing is steeping in antiquity. The sizes ranged from the enormous structures utilized for public houses to smaller ‘hip baths,’ and the materials varied from marble to wood to metals to porcelain. Smaller basins placed onto washstands were a standard fixture in all houses, no matter what the occupants’ attitude on total immersion bathing, as they must have something to wash their hands and faces in. Portable tubs were most common as plumbing, once a refined technology for the Greeks and Romans, was largely a lost art until the end of the 18th century. The history of pipes, pumps, and plumbing is vast, but to be honest not all that intriguing to me. Suffice to say, the ability to bring water from far away sources and then distribute it was a skill that was far from unheard of, but just not all that common. Piping into houses, even above the first floor, was more than possible from a technology standpoint, but still rare beyond the kitchen. You see the evidence of this expertise in the grand fountains of the day, but perhaps the ingrained outlooks toward bathing prevented fully taking the concept to the next logical level….yet. Thus it would be well into the Victorian Era before fancy claw-foot tubs with hot and cold running water in elaborately decorated bathrooms became the norm. But again, it was not impossible or utterly fantastical, even piped heated water a luxury that could be arranged if one was forward-thinking and rich.

It is also necessary to note that even today it is a primarily western cultural normalcy to bathe (or shower) every day! The bulk of the world still does not take a bath or shower on a daily basis. There is food for thought! As an additional irony, even we in the modern west rarely take baths. Instead, we shower. Baths have been relegated to the once-in-awhile event more for the joy of relaxing then cleansing. So, from a certain angle, bathing has come full circle and is largely the rarity it once was!

But back to the Darcys and the Regency. The question, I realize, is not actually answered. Naturally we simply cannot, do not, and will not visualize a sweaty, smelly, grimy Darcy making love to a stinky, grubby, perspiring Lizzy! But I do not think we have to. There is enough evidence to make a case for the wealthy of the day being tolerably clean. Again, perhaps not as we may think on it, but more than adequate. Washing, personal hygiene, and fastidiousness of appearance are hallmarks of the Brummell principles that ruled amongst the upper strata of society. The medicinal advantages to cleanliness were becoming accepted. Machinery was allowing the ease of such things as piped water, and the wave of discovery in industry and inventions was rising rapidly. By 1840 public bathhouses would again be the norm in London and elsewhere. All taken together, I think it logical and rational to deduce that the Regency generation was cleaner and sweeter smelling than the generations before.

Some cool links:

H.L. Mencken article

History of Plumbing

Bathtub history and trivia

The Plumber.com

Bathing before 1601

History of the Bath

Soap History

Shower Evolution

The Stand-up bath

Brighton: history of seabathing

Soap: The earliest recorded formula for soap, consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil, was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 B.C. The Ebers papyrus indicates that the Egyptians of 1550 B.C. not only bathed regularly but combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to create a soap-like substance. Oddly enough the uber-clean Romans were ignorant of soap, preferring to scrap the skin after languishing in steamy water for hours. This is actually a very effective method of cleaning and the norm in many cultures, but that is another story. The word soap> Latin sapo, first appeared in Pliny the Elder’s A.D. 77 encyclopedia Historia Naturalis where he discussed the substance manufactured from tallow and ashes as a pomade for the hair. True soaps for cleansing as we know it were produced by medieval Islamic chemists in the first century A.D. They combined animal and vegetable oils with lye, far more effective, and all soaps since are descendents of this basic formula. For more info, click on the link offered above.

Shampoo: As a specific, patented hair care item it was not invented until 1920. Until then soap was used. The word shampoo is derived from the Hindi word for massage and dates to 1877 when English hairdressers boiled soap in soda water and added herbs for health, fragrance, and manageability.

Conditioners: Natural oils - such as tea tree, sandalwood, orange, grapeseed, and jojoba - have been used for centuries to condition the hair. The first explicit hair-grooming conditioner was brilliantine. At the 1900 Exposition Universelle in Paris, French perfumer Ed Pinaud presented his concoction of perfume and colored oil as a way to soften men’s hair, beards, and mustaches, giving them a glossy appearance! And who says only women are vain?

Toothbrush: Documented history and archeological evidence of everything from bamboo twigs, chewsticks and other plants with fibrous medicinal qualities, bird feathers, animal bones, and porcupine quills used to keep the teeth cleaned. The first recorded toothbrush creation was in China in 1400: a group of stiff hog’s hairs attached to a bamboo stick.

William Addis of England is credited with creating the first mass-produced toothbrush in 1780. In 1770 he had been placed in jail for causing a riot. While in prison, he decided that the method for teeth brushing of the time – rubbing a rag on one's teeth with soot and salt – could be improved. So he took a small animal bone, drilled small holes in it, obtained some bristles from a guard, tied them in tufts, then passed the bristles through the holes on the bone and glued them. He soon became very wealthy and the rest is history, as they say!

Toothpaste/powder: The earliest known reference to toothpaste is in a manuscript from Egypt in the 4th century AD, which prescribes a mixture of powdered salt, pepper, mint leaves, and iris flowers. From there on the history is filled with all types of tooth-cleaning-aids containing ingredients such as charcoal, salt, pulverized brick, chalk, the resin dragon’s blood, alum, cinnamon, soap, and even urine! Real ‘toothpaste’ as we know it with fluoride, sweet tastes, and collapsible tubes are a very late 19th century invention, largely brought to general public consumption by the Colgate company!

Dental floss: Pieces of fibers and toothpicks have been found in the teeth grooves of prehistoric peoples upon excavation. But it is Levi Spear Parmly, a dentist from New Orleans, who is credited with inventing the modern form of dental floss. He had been recommending that people should clean their teeth with silk