During the Bubonic Plague, doctors wore these bird-like masks to avoid becoming sick. They would fill the beaks with spices and rose petals, so they wouldn’t have to smell the rotting bodies.
A theory during the Bubonic Plague was that the plague was caused by evil spirits. To scare the spirits away, the masks were intentionally designed to be creepy.
Mission fucking accomplished
Okay so I love this but it doesn’t cover the half of why the design is awesome and actually borders on making sense.
It wasn’t just that they didn’t want to smell the infected and dead, they thought it was crucial to protecting themselves. They had no way of knowing about what actually caused the plague, and so one of the other theories was that the smell of the infected all by itself was evil and could transmit the plague. So not only would they fill their masks with aromatic herbs and flowers, they would also burn fires in public areas, so that the smell of the smoke would “clear the air”. This all related to the miasma theory of contagion, which was one of the major theories out there until the 19th century. And it makes sense, in a way. Plague victims smelled awful, and there’s a general correlation between horrible septic smells and getting horribly sick if you’re around what causes them for too long.
You can see now that we’ve got two different theories as to what caused the plague that were worked into the design. That’s because the whole thing was an attempt by the doctors to cover as many bases as they could think of, and we’re still not done.
The glass eyepieces. They were either darkened or red, not something you generally want to have to contend with when examining patients. But the plague might be spread by eye contact via the evil eye, so best to ward that off too.
The illustration shows a doctor holding a stick. This was an examination tool, that helped the doctors keep some distance between themselves and the infected. They already had gloves on, but the extra level of separation was apparently deemed necessary. You could even take a pulse with it. Or keep people the fuck away from you, which was apparently a documented use.
Finally, the robe. It’s not just to look fancy, the cloth was waxed, as were all of the rest of their clothes. What’s one of the properties of wax? Water-based fluids aren’t absorbed by it. This was the closest you could get to a sterile, fully protecting garment back then. Because at least one person along the line was smart enough to think “Gee, I’d really rather not have the stuff coming out of those weeping sores anywhere on my person”.
So between all of these there’s a real sense that a lot of real thought was put into making sure the doctors were protected, even if they couldn’t exactly be sure from what. They worked with what information they had. And frankly, it’s a great design given what was available! You limit exposure to aspirated liquids, limit exposure to contaminated liquids already present, you limit contact with the infected. [Removed a non-fact from here. See note at the bottom!]
Beyond that, there were contracts the doctors would sign before they even got near a patient. They were to be under quarantine themselves, they wouldn’t treat patients without a custodian monitoring them and helping when something had to be physically contacted, and they would not treat non-plague patients for the duration. There was an actual system in place by the time the plague doctors really became a thing to make sure they didn’t infect anyone either.
These guys were the product of the scientific process at work, and the scientific process made a bitchin’ proto-hazmat suit. And containment protocols!
EDIT: I don’t know whether this will show up on anyone else’s posts, but I did get one thing wrong that I’d like to correct. There’s been a commentary and more facts added here! Check it out! We’ve now got wandering hordes of Germans whipping themselves! (No seriously this is a thing that happened)
good morning to these talented husbands who are both called david and wear the same outfits and to them ONLY
Daddy’s at the food store, Mummy’s out of town,
She’s working at the hospital since Rhona came to town,
Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s come to town,
Hide away, hide away, she’s come to take us down.
Miss Rhona’s at the doorstep, I’ll keep 6 feet away,
But Grandma needs the paper, I’ll take her some today,
Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s come to stay,
Hide away, hide away, we can’t come out to play.
But Grandma needs the paper, I’ll take her some today,
And here’s a note from Rhona, she wanted me to say,
Hide away, hide away, keep 6 feet away,
Hide away, hide away, she took us down today.
[Image ID: Tumblr user @neanderthyall says in the notes, “I thought that 6 feet was kind of a double meaning. Like six feet away to stop the spread, but when people die they’re six feet underground, and its six feet of the dirt that keeps you apart. Like ‘Hide away, hide away, even though it hurts Hide away, hide away, or the six feet will be dirt’.” End ID.]
I’ve taken the liberty of expanding the lyrics slightly and coming up with a tune:
Daddy’s at the food store, Mummy’s out of town,
She’s working at the hospital since Rhona came to town,
Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s come to town,
Hide away, hide away, she’s come to take us down.
Miss Rhona’s at the doorstep, I’ll keep 6 feet away,
But Grandma needs the paper, I’ll take her some today,
Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s come to stay,
Hide away, hide away, we can’t come out to play.
I need to see the sunlight, I’ve not been out in days
And here’s a note from Rhona, she wanted me to say,
Hide away, hide away, keep 6 feet away,
Hide away, hide away, she took us down today
The days all run together, I haven’t changed my shirt
We may be getting restless, but keep on the alert
Hide away, hide away, even though it hurts
Hide away, hide away, or the six feet will be dirt
@billpottsismygf’s extended version. A beautiful singing voice 🎶☺️
As planned I’ve extended this even further and re-recorded it with the new lyrics and a guitar part; it’s also a bit better quality. It’s so cool that so many different versions of this song have sprung up already! I recommend having a scroll through them all on @jus-tea‘s tumblr.
(Em)Daddy’s at the (B7)food store, (Em)Mummy’s out of (B7)town,
She’s (Em)working at the (B7)hospital since (Em)Rhona (B7)came to (Em)town,
(Am)Hide away, hide away, Miss (Em)Rhona’s come to town,
(Am)Hide away, (Em)hide away, she’s come to (B7)take us (Em)down.
Miss Rhona’s at the doorstep, I’ll keep six feet away,
But Grandma needs the paper, I’ll take her one today,
Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s come to stay,
Hide away, hide away, we can’t come out to play.
I’m missing all my friends, though we keep in touch by phone,
I’m learning what it is to truly be alone,
Hide away, hide away, even though you moan,
Hide away, hide away, or we’ll be lying prone.
My love she says she misses the twinkle of my eyes,
But Rhona stalks the streets and to meet would be unwise,
Hide away, hide away, we hear the desperate cries,
Hide away, hide away, or see the bodies rise.
I feel myself a-coughin’, I haven’t got a mask,
It’s work or die for me, though, so who am I to ask,
Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s on the task,
Hide away, hide away, she’s come for me at last.
I need to see the sunlight, I’ve not been out in days,
And here’s a note from Rhona, she wanted me to say,
Hide away, hide away, keep 6 feet away,
Hide away, hide away, she took us down today.
The days all run together, I haven’t changed my shirt,
We may be getting restless, but keep on the alert,
Hide away, hide away, Miss Rhona’s quite the flirt,
Hide away, hide away, her touch is not inert.
Hide away, hide away, even though it hurts,
Hide away, hide away, or six feet will be dirt.
you absolutely nailed the slightly ominous yet catchy tune for this, great job!
i came across these screenshots on twitter what gen z thinks about millenilals on tik tok. istg they hit every nail
id rather be associated with tiktok dances than rawr xd or whatever tf millennials were doing
