As another exclusive in matter anti matter in the Lame Cherry.
I have mentioned that the Swedish immigrants who came to America, Minnesota specifically were a race of Israelite peoples who were covered with various species of lice in being filthy. This is not a condemnation of Swedes, but a fact that the Chinese settlements smelled as California Joe put it, "Like an Indian camp in summer".
Of course there was stench, in meat was slaughtered, human excrement was piled high and no one bathed. This is the condition of the filthy Italians to most peoples.
It simply is a compliment to Americanization, that her peoples actually learned to be rugged inviduals, learned to take a Saturday night Christian bath, and of course the olde adage, "Cleanliness is next to Godliness".
I have made a point in this that plagues such as small pox were killing people due to lack of the people not bathing. Small Pox is a skin eruption disease where if the pox are not cleaned, infections kill the patient.
Cholera is the same evil of polluted water supply.
Wash yourself, be clean and be healthy.
The Eurasians never took baths. The Russians had no need for the cold and the French had no need for fear of catching cold.
My Grandpa had a best friend named Fred, who was a most interesting character. His one attribute is he wore two long sleeve union suits, summer and winter, and he never, ever, ever, took off the one next to his skin, only the outer one which wore out.
Even a man of the outdoors, you could imagine the tangy aroma he must have carried, like most people did.
I place here a quaint observation by the son of Theodore Roosevelt of the people of north France. It is how Europe was, in people living with animals and the entire village being a large manure pile.
"These small French villages in the north of France resemble nothing that we have in our country. They are charming and picturesque, but various features are lacking which to the well-ordered American mind causes pain. To begin with, there is no system of plumbing. The village gets all its water supply from the public fountains. This naturally makes a bath an almost unknown luxury. Many times I have been asked by the French peasants why I wanted a bath, and should it be winter, was I not afraid I would be taken sick if I took one. Around these public fountains the village life centers. There the chattering groups of women and girls are always congregating. There the gossip of the countryside originates and runs its course. There is rarely electric light in the small towns, and enormous manure piles are in front of each house and in the street. The houses themselves are a combination affair, barn and house under the same roof. The other features that are always present are the church and café. Even in the smallest town there are generally charming chapels."
Theodore Roosevelt. Average Americans
The Americans broke the world mould. The great 5 star hotels of Europe until a few years ago, all had communal toilets which all shared. It is a fitting advancement for humans which is often overlooked and in reality is one of the greatest gifts America gave the world with a new form of government and technological advancement.
There is a charm in filth, until one is exposed to it, and find lice carried away with them as they find a new disease inflicting them.
I do not think Fred was ever sick until he died. His germs probably were eating all the other germs. There is a point though that keeping semi clean does assist the spryness of the person.
I end this on that point, before I digress into other areas of Frenchness in wondering how with lack of bathing their sexual exploits ever manifested without the couple being nauseated from the scent.
These peoples did harbor virtues though which Americans did learn.
"The peasants who live in these villages have an immemorial custom behind them in most of their actions. They have the careful attitude of an old people, very difficult for our young and wasteful nation to understand. Each stray bit of wood, each old piece of iron, is saved and laid aside for future use. No great wasteful fires roar on the hearth, but rather a few fagots, carefully measured to do just what is intended for them. The families have lived in the same spot for generations. Their roots are very firmly in the ground. Individually they are a curious combination of simplicity and shrewdness."
Theodore Roosevelt jr. Average Americans
agtG
