Don't bathe at Bath... in Georgian times

I thought about my post yesterday and decided some things I wrote might be misunderstood. They were not at all prudish during the Georgian Era, nor during the Regency era that followed. (That was a Victorian innovation.) With money and time to while away, the gentry spent their time in pursuit of pleasure. Of all sorts. If you've only read Jane Austen to this point, try branching out a little. Georgiana Cavendish, James Boswell, and Grace Dalrymple Elliot led interesting lives- give them a read.

The thing to understand about Bath is that people didn't bathe there for fun. It was not a happenin' place. It was visited by the old, the infirm, and the convalescent because the water was believed to have curative powers. There were no antibiotics, and all manner of diseases, everything from leprosy to tuberculosis to smallpox to syphilis. Untreated syphilis. Think about it. I have the feeling Bath passed the clothing ordinance so that the bathers would not be disturbed by each others' disfigurements.

Let's not even talk about communicable diseases. Chlorinating water is an invention of the last century. I'm sure that bath was a germ stew. Germ theory was not adopted until the later 1800s, so they had no idea what they were spreading around. So if you're reading a Regency romance where they rendezvous in the bath at Bath...

Now I've grossed myself out. Eww. I'll write up something less disgusting for tomorrow!