There were some seriously dangerous things in homes of Victorian England. Your home should be a sanctuary, somewhere you feel safe and secure and so it was for the Victorians. The Victorian Age was a time of massive scientific discovery and development, but very often “new” things did more harm than good – unbeknownst to the people supposedly benefiting from them. Much of the science that has identified the harms and disadvantages came a long time after, and scientists are still uncovering and understanding the issues today. Here are just some of the dangerous things in homes of Victorian England you’ll be glad we don’t have to worry about in our own homes.
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Arsenic was used as an ingredient for green dye in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was used in things such as clothing and wallpaper. But arsenic is poisonous and caused many deaths.
As we know, processed white sliced bread is one of the food evils of the world today. With its processed fats and sugars and countless preservatives, it might be one of our staple foods, but we at least know that it can be bad for us. In Victorian England it was incredibly dangerous. In a bid to increase profits, the bulking substitute alum was used. It led to malnutrition, constipation, and bowel problems, which often killed children. It’s incredible to think that one of the most dangerous things in homes of Victorian England was a foodstuff that was meant to be cheap, filling and nutritious. Most people were ignorant of the bulking agents used and certainly wouldn’t know whether it was alum, chalk or bean flour.
Hearsay can cause real danger, and it turned common milk into one of the most dangerous things in Victorian homes. A rumor spread, it was deemed to be the truth and householders decided to use boracic acid to supposedly ‘purify’ the milk to make it last longer – remember pasteurization was still not a method of mass milk production at this time. Boracic acid removed the sour taste and the smell, but even small amounts of boracic acid can cause diarrhea, vomiting, and could even house bovine TB. An estimated 500,000 children died from drinking adulterated milk in the Victorian era.
In Victorian England, the notion of 'improving' food safety sometimes had tragic consequences. The boracic acid trend is a stark reminder of how misinformation can turn a staple like milk toxic. Not realizing that this additive was far from a harmless preservative, parents unknowingly endangered their children. This substance not only masked spoilage but also allowed harmful bacteria to go undetected, posing unseen threats in nursery bottles and kitchen pitchers. The stark mortality rate underlines a period where the understanding of foodborne illnesses was dangerously scant, leading to heart-wrenching outcomes.
One of the killers in Victorian homes was bathrooms. Toilets would sometimes explode for apparently no reason, causing horrific burns and death. The reason for this was methane coming from human waste building up in the sewers. Early flushing toilets would actually leak waste back into homes, so a naked flame from a candle was enough to cause an explosion.
The hazards didn't end with explosions. Bathrooms also lacked proper ventilation and water purification systems, leading to stagnant, germ-infested water that was a breeding ground for diseases like cholera and typhoid fever. Women of the era, already burdened with maintaining the household's cleanliness, faced an uphill battle against these invisible enemies. Adding to the peril, the criminally overlooked construction of plumbing systems often caused sewer gases to waft into living spaces, posing a silent but deadly risk to the family's health.
The Victorian era was a time for rapid expansion. Hasty construction led to staircases often being too narrow and steep. Servants, especially, were susceptible to injury and death in Victorian homes. Combine the fact they were wearing long skirts instead of jeans, and that in homes able to afford servants stairs were required to be highly polished, and it doesn’t take much to see how so many injuries were caused.
Victorian staircases weren't just a hazard for the working staff; even the family members faced the same dangers from these architectural oversights. Without the benefit of modern building codes, there was little consistency or safety measures in their design. Additionally, the prevalent use of gas lighting could create dim conditions, compounding the risk of missteps and falls. The combination of poor lighting, impractical dress codes, and sometimes intricate but perilous staircase designs turned these seemingly mundane home features into veritable deathtraps for the unwary.
Parkesine was invented by British inventor Alexander Parkes. It later became known by the American name of Celluloid. It was extremely useful in everything from combs to billiard balls. These items previously had to be made from ivory imported from Africa and Asia. Unfortunately, treatment methods to make the compound safe didn’t exist so Parkesine would become flammable as it degraded. And it could explode on impact, which makes it one of the most dangerous things in Victorian homes.
Today, you’ll generally only find asbestos in usage when someone is discussing a legal case. We know asbestos fibers lead to cancer and can lead to death. In the Victorian period, it was known as the ‘wonder material’. It could be used in everything from houses to clothing. Even to this day, we don’t know how many people this greatest of dangers in Victorian homes killed.
Asbestos's legacy of harm lives on, as countless Victorian-era homes still contain this hazardous substance. Back then, its fire-resistant properties made it an ideal choice for insulation and various construction materials. Ladies' journals even praised asbestos tablecloths and curtains for not catching fire. It's chilling to consider the untold numbers of industrious housekeepers who unwittingly exposed themselves and their families to these toxic fibers. Awareness campaigns and removal efforts continue to this day, emphasizing the importance of history in guiding modern health and safety practices.
At this time, refrigerators were widely found across England. They were still flawed during the Victorian age. They were prone to leaking gases like sulfur dioxide, ammonia, and methyl chloride. All of these gases attack the respiratory system and may lead to death, or at least disability.
Electricity was confined to lighting until the Victorian period. During the Victorian period, innovation went viral. Inventions like the electric tablecloth, which didn’t react well to spillages, were directly responsible for a number of deaths. The main cause of death was plugging too many devices into a single socket, though. Electrical fires were common. Plugging too many devices into one outlet, doesn’t that sound like a familiar problem?
Exploding toilets? Poisonous toothpaste? Combustible tablecloths? Lethal gases? We may have our unsafe items these days but we should be glad we aren’t exposed to the danger in Victorian homes. Can you think of anything similar to these dangerous items?