Top Five Hazards of Everyday Life at the Turn of the Century

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This article The Perils of Clothing at The Smithsonian got me thinking about other hazards in everyday life for the late nineteenth century Victorians and turn of the century Gilded Age Americans.

1. Corseting

Corseting as tightly as possible to create the attractive hourglass figure or S curve during The Gilded Age caused many women to become deformed. Wearing the corsets so much, even to bed, altered the location of internal organs and caused complications during pregnancy. It also weakened the muscles and spine making it difficult for women to go without the corsets that held them up. Learn more at the Victorian Era blog.

2. Arsenic

I think at this time period people were just beginning to learn arsenic was dangerous but didn't bother taking it out of a variety of household items like wallpaper! This is probably similar to the asbestos issues our society had in the late twentieth century.

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Learn more from the MailOnline article from the UK. For American specific, check out this article on AspenTimes.

3. Addictive Substances Used As Medicine


Alcohol, cocaine, heroine, and opium were all substances that Victorians and Turn of the Century Americans used as regular medicine and many people formed terrible addictions.

Learn more at The Truth About Victoriana and from the Why We Took Cocaine Out of Soda on The Atlantic.

4. Childbirth

Giving birth was one of the most dangerous things for Victorian women to do. Many died during childbirth and every time a woman got pregnant, she knew it might mean her demise. Yet it was a woman's primary purpose according to society and many women spent their lives giving birth to many, many children. Usually women gave birth to several children that either died in the womb or died shortly after birth.

Learn more at The Victorian Garden.

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5. Hat Pins

Hat Pin were long sharp pins that women used to pin their elaborate hats into their ornate hairstyles to keep the hats in place. But they were so long and sharp, women often injured themselves by accidentally stabbing their own heads with hat pin or they attacked other people with them.

Learn about a historical news report of a woman attacking someone with her hat pin on the article dubbed "Hat Pins: Victorian Women Will Cut You!"  Here's another historical news article "Stabbed with a Hat Pin."

Bonus: FIRE!!!

Victorian dresses with layers upon layers of petticoats were notorious for catching on fire and seriously burning the woman after she had stepped too close to a fireplace or stove.

Check out the 1886 article: "What To Do If You Catch Fire." on Highlights from The Girl's Own Paper blog.

What are some of the everyday life hazards of modern day people? What will historians look back at and say, why did they do that?