Ink Pen by Phil Dunlap for January 11, 2019

In the 17 and 18 hundreds, perfume was common, but bathing was optional. I read of a Mother Superior who was bathed at birth and at death, but never in between.

“I take a bath in the spring”

“I asked where, not when”

And no mouthwash…

Bathe with a friend.

Was it Queen Elizabeth who boasted of bathing once a year, whether she needed it or not? —Our ancestors held that bathing was unhealthy, and you know, in an unheated castle it WAS unhealthy. Crofter cottages were probably significantly cozier.

It’s been suggested that Christianity had something to do with it. The Romans and Greeks were avid seekers of hot water, ditto the Arabs and Jews, and of course the Slavs and Scandinavians and their saunas.

Once a month? He doesn’t do that now!

In medieval England it was the law for royalty to bathe every 6 months (whether they needed it or not)…