Bedbugs and Chamberpots: A History of Human Hygiene

by Elizabeth Poynter

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, including the author's personal experiences in countries as diverse as Japan and Iceland. The perfect book to sit reading in the little boys' (or girls') room!

Genres: History, Nonfiction

154 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 27, 2015

About the author

I now live and work back in West Yorkshire, county of my birth, but having studied Chinese at university, I lived in China in the 1980s, and since then have lived in Germany and Japan (7 years in Hiroshima). I think this has had an impact on my writing; within the SF genre, I'm more interested in different cultures than technology, and I love developing alien languages and then dropping odd words into the text.
Lately I've been focusing more on the cultures on this planet, and have an historical novel coming out March 2025, which I hope will be the first of many.

Reviews

[Zain · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Don’t Give A Poop!

Elizabeth Poynter, takes the reader way back in history when the world is in a crisis over lack of education on the topic of bathing. She is an expert on the subject and she’s read lots of books to prove it.

Back in the Roman days people would take bathing as a social activity that only the elite enjoyed and they could easily afford. Not for the poor and lower classes, especially the slaves. They are worked to death morning, noon and night and can’t find the time to enjoy a bath. Bathing is for pleasure. It has nothing to do with hygiene.

The plague is a real disease that can wipe out a whole family or village. It is a big problem for many countries and many cities. The people just didn’t know that fleas and rats are the carriers of the plague. Many years later, people learned that cleaner places mean less rats equals less fleas and less plague.

It took so long to happen because superstitions got in the way of progress and caused people to suffer and spread the disease and die.

Smelly chamber pots cause lots of unhappiness because of the smell (Victorian people think bad smells are unhealthy). They are right. They don’t know how to get rid of bedbugs and an infestation is miserable. They have bouts of lice because of their lack of clean drinking water.

Drinking water is a big problem for them. The water is usually not clean enough to drink or use for bathing and other things. The people just didn’t know that dirty water was responsible for the diseases they were suffering from. Cholera typhoid fever and so many others.

The problem with water today is that it is not available for everyone. We need water for more than drinking. We need it for crops, for our farm animals and for our electricity. Because of climate change, we are having places where there is too much water. And places where there is much too little.

We’ve come a long way since the early days of the Great Roman nation. There’s been a lot of affliction and a lot of distress. But as the years go by the world is beginning to change.

We hope, changing for the better.

Four stars. 💫💫💫💫

[Vicky Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all I need too say a huge thank you for this copy which I was sent though good reads first reads! I have really enjoyed this book always being strangely interested in chamber pots lavatories and other facilities I have enjoyed reading this. Both informative and funny this book greatly entertained me and I already have people asking to read this so I shall be passing it around! Brilliant thank you!

[Cecilia Flores · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wake-up call for affluent society

Poynter’s book catches us with our pants down in the name of sanitary health…the HAVES are blithely we killing the planet faster with our personal AND public waste while the HAVE NOTS are in deeper shit than ever! We live like kings and step on everybody with less money and privilege, and we’re not even aware that we’re doing it. Read this book, and weep for the world.

[Wendy DeWachter · Rating 5 out of 5]

entertaining and educational

I really like this book, it was entertaining and educational. The only 'dull' area to me was the chapter on irritation, but you may find it more interesting than I did. It is interesting to how far we have come only to realize we have so much farther to go

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very timely

Although this book deals mainly with the hygienic practices of the past, it concluded with a warning about the future. It is written for the lay person, not overly specific. I highly recommend it and hope that more will be done before it's too late, especially in regards to the world's water supply.

[Picture book lover Untraditional · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite history books.
It’s truly delightful with quirky memoirs from the author that give an otherwise germy subject an infusion of humor and personal meaning. It covers a large range of plumbing technologies throughout history and brings to light the differences in cultures all with a whimsical writing style.
I have passed it on to many friends for over a decade.

[Nicholas Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well put together book and thankfully short, books are too long these days, and a well sourced book as well. It was a very introductory level look throughout the globe and throughout history though so I'll be looking for further sources in this area.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

History from Another Perspective

Enjoyable and informative examination of the history and culture of bathing, toilets, water supplies and human behavior. Great reading for history buffs and trivia fans.

[Douglas Reedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cooties everywhere!

This book, although quite informative could make a person a wee bit paranoid. It is a well researched and thought provoking piece of work. But may give you the hebe-gebes.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun quick read

This is a breezy history that will serve as a jumping off point for further research. The author has a great dry wit.

[Jeff B Arcand · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Came across this book while looking for information on how the Regency Era lived, dressed, hygiene etc., Couldn't put it down!! Amazing insight and well researched

[Argum · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was rather charming little book on the questions you never think to ask about the past, but it is also rather idiosyncratic as the whims of the author, her travels, and acquaintances fill in a lot of her material. There are references after each chapter but this is still not very academic or systematic look at these things. Fun read with only a few editing problems that actually disrupted reading ease.

[Mark]

I have only had a look at this book and read the first two or three pages.