Paperwall: On Taking a Bath

I am unsure where today’s Paperwall posting comes from, whether an opinion piece, news piece, or in-paper story, mostly because in the late 1800s “news” was often a mix of all three and one could expect facts and reporting to sit right along with blatant opinion and any anecdotal piece that enhanced the story for the reader.   In some ways, this makes the newspapers a lot more fun to read from this era.

The author of this posting apparently had a rant about people bathing — or rather, not bathing — and thought he should share with the readers:

I have often wondered very much in after years that the inhabitants of my own dear land did not make more frequent use of this most charming element, water.   I mean in the way of cold bathing.  Of course, I have perceived that it is not convenient for them to go into the sea or rivers in winter, as we used to do on the Coral island; but then, I knew from experience that a large washing-tub and a sponge do form a most pleasant substitute.   The feelings of freshness, of cleanliness, of vigor, and extreme (indecipherable — hiberty?), that always followed my bath in the sea, and even, when in England, my ablutions in the wash tub, were so delightful that I would sooner have gone without my breakfast than without my bath in cold water.   My readers will forgive me for asking whether they are in the habit of bathing thus every morning and if they answer, “No,” they will pardon me for recommending them to begin at once.  (remaining is indecipherable)

The Paperwall Feature: For the next few weeks, this blog will be running a regular feature called, “Paperwall”. You can view all postings in this category by clicking here. These are small excerpts from very old newspapers that were used as wallpaper backing in a house I used to live in.   When I redid the bathroom and pulled down the walls, these were exposed.   I kept a majority of the very large pieces and have scanned them and poured over them for interesting bits and pieces.    The newspapers I can identify are The Des Moines Leader of Des Moines, IA; The Sheffield Press of Sheffield, IA; and The Weekly Constitution of Atlanta, GA.   There were only two datelines I could find — November 16th, 1886, and October 30th, 1888.   The sheer age of these papers and that they’ve been preserved this long is impressive.    I found it terribly interesting to see what they had to say.

For some historical context of these excerpts, Grover Cleveland was President, the Civil War just got over in 1865 and everyone’s still recovering; the Washington Monument was just opening and Jack the Ripper was terrorizing London.   Kodak was just being patented, and the National Geographic Society was just being formed.

© Nathan Pralle for PhilosYphia, 2009. | Permalink | No comments....YET! Make one! | Subscribe RSS