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4.5
Smells in 19th century cities were pervasive, and encountered daily by rich and poor, and were dealt with by individuals and institutions. Smells themselves were long thought to be sources of disease before germ theory was discovered. People mounted floral scented window boxes to combat outdoor odors from odiferous industries, and physicians mapped loci of smells and filth in relation to disease outbreaks. But people lived in proximity to slaughter houses, burgeoning chemical factories, exposed animal carcasses, garbage, manure, gas works, fat renderers. Professor Kiechle’s study of how citizens and institutions dealt with smells is exhaustive. This work is both academic and enlightening. She documents where the smells came from and what people thought of them. One good thing is that smells were obvious (“everybody has a nose”) and usually traceable, even if the solutions were difficult. Smell detectives and smell committees worked with much evidence in their communities.Underlying it all are many currents in nineteenth century America. The give and take of miasma theory versus germ theory; tidal waves of people moving to cities; Jacksonian democracy stepping away from governmental interference; science combatting, and sometimes reinforcing, common sense; racist feelings too stupid to even understand; the role of local governments in ensuring citizens’ health and comfort. The stories are often compelling, starting off with Dr. Griscom, a city inspector enduring sickening odors on his inspections but not having the tools to enforce improvements. The book discusses Civil War camps, which had population densities higher than any inner city, and their overwhelming smells. There were books written for homemakers to combat smells and disease afflicting their families. People walked around with scented handkerchiefs, cut lemons, cigars, and heavy perfume. Thoreau wistfully and spiritually compared “the natural and original fragrance of the land,” which “formerly sweetened the atmosphere” in primeval times to the current habitation as a “source of many diseases which now prevail”. This book is a much more grounded examination of the period when people lived, managed, and grappled with daily life in a smellier time.
