Dangerous things in Victorian/Edwardian homes

[pokerfan]

How did we survive?

The late Victorians and the Edwardians lived through a domestic revolution. Theirs was a bold and exciting age of innovation, groundbreaking discoveries and dramatic scientific changes, many of which altered life at home in profound ways - including some that were terrible and unforeseen, writes historian Dr Suzannah Lipscomb.

Yet, many of the products they bought or inventive technological solutions they came up with were not only health hazards, but deadly domestic assassins. They were welcoming hidden killers into the heart of their homes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25259505

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. no different,

I think from today with all the chemicals and preservatives and mystery meat. Sometimes the more things change the more they stay the same.

[pokerfan]

5. Yeah

A hundred years from now we'll be looking back and saying what were we thinking?

[KT2000]

2. Ha! I just did

an editorial on this for a magazine.
I had access to several housekeeping hint books of the day. The well maintained home included - cleaning woolens in gasoline, cleaning silverware in kerosene, spreading gasoline in bedrooms etc.
They had an illness of the day called neurasthenia that was said to be caused by everything from the invention of the telegraph to lass of religious values and bad character traits.

No - they were being poisoned!

[FatBuddy]

3. cyanide gas was a home pest remedy for fumigation

[KT2000]

4. yikes!

Thanks for that one!

[LumosMaxima]

6. ZOMG, item #7

Radium! In condoms!!!

[pokerfan]

7. Yeah but...

It glows!

[kwassa]

8. These are still used.

and quite dangerous when heated to red-hot for the purpose of straightening hair.

[hunter]

9. They forgot the deadliest killer, still in use today...

... Coal fired electrical power plants.

In the final accounting those things will probably end up killing more people than wars.