Dentures in the 18th Century

A dentist's advertisement for real human teeth

The above advertisement from 1792 may seem funny to some of our readers, but it was a reality for dentists who had no other option but to advertise for human teeth so they could make dentures for their wealthy patients.  

Upper-class British aristocrats had terrible teeth due to their overconsumption of sugar and sugary foods, liquor, and wines - all of which rotted and discolored their teeth.  They tried to whiten their teeth but the procedure ended up destroying the enamel. They needed dentures, preferred to have human teeth, and were willing to pay high prices because human teeth were in very short supply.   

Grave robbers jumped at the chance to make some money and used pliers to yank out the teeth of any dead soldier as long as the teeth were in good condition to sell them. 

Once the dentist bought the teeth, they would be boiled, the ends chopped off, and shaved down to shape them to fit in with the other teeth on the dentures.

According to a June 2015 BBC article, dentists would acquire the live human teeth, fasten them with rivets onto ivory dentures, then file them to make them uniform.  


This next picture shows teeth that were taken from dead Waterloo soldiers and strung up on piano wire to be offered for sale. By 1832, human teeth or "Waterloo teeth" were starting to phase out because of advancements in dentistry.

Dentures used to be made from real teeth of soldiers who died at Waterloo

An ivory denture with human teeth could cost over £100.   

In early days of dentistry, dentures were held together with springs

But there were a few rural dentists and jewelers who still advertised as late as 1851 for human teeth. 

At the time of the Battle of Waterloo, says the BDA Museum's Rachel Bairsto, anyone could call themselves a dentist and give you medical advice about your teeth. You might even go to a jeweler to get your dentures adjusted.

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 Love

Divorce Vending Machine

An idea that was far ahead of its time

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Oldest Monks In The United Kingdom

In the 1880s, in Somerset, United Kingdom, a group of archaeologists unearthed the ruins of a cemetery attached to Beckery Chapel, which was a medieval monastery from the Middle Ages.  Since its finding, the cemetery has been hailed as the oldest monk cemetery in the UK. 

The dig site at Beckery Chapel

 


About two hundred years later, during an excavation in the 1960s, archaeologists found around 60 bodies in the ruins. Only one was a woman, which supports the claim that this was indeed a monastic cemetery. 



To properly date the skeletons, they knew they would have to wait for technology to advance a little more, so the age of the remains was guestimated.  

In 2016, the remains were finally carbon dated and they were from medieval times around 406 AD to 544 AD. 

Archaeologists had expected the graveyard to be as old as the chapel but further excavation showed that the chapel was far older than the skeletons and much older than the dates that had been in place since the 1880s. 


The finding of the monk skeletons made them among the oldest monks in the United Kingdom. The graveyard also showed signs that the monastery was in use for quite some time. 


From the 7th to the 9th centuries, the public was allowed to be buried in the cemetery. Then at the end of the 9th century, the Vikings overran Somerset making Beckery Chapel unusable.  This explains why there were no more monks after 544 AD.


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History of Oleomargarine

For those of you who are too young to remember when oleomargarine made its first appearance in your house, this one is for you!  Perhaps you recognize "margarine" but not the "oleo" part. Oleomargarine is artificial butter. It is made from the yellow, tasteless and odorless oil that is obtained from beef suet. Oleomargarine was shortened to "margarine" shortly after it became available in the United States in 1851.

1930's advertisement said margarine was nourishing
but there was little truth to that.

In 1869, Napoleon III sponsored a contest where he asked French citizens to invent or create an affordable butter substitute that was less perishable than real butter. He had a good reason.  France was going through a butter shortage and Napoleon III wanted a cheaper but buttery tasting product to feed French troops and a product that lower classes would be able to afford.  

1940's British advert for Margarine

Hippolyte  Mege-Mouries, a French chemist, won the contest.  He was well-known to Napoleon III. He was working at la Ferme Impériale de la Faisanderie, which was Napoleon III's private farm in Vincennes near Paris.  Formerly he worked as a pharmacist for royal supported Hotel Dieu Hospital in Paris where he was published in medical journals, most notably, his findings of experiments that reduced the side effects of a syphilis medication. 


Mege-Mouries was no stranger to obtaining patents. He held patents for effervescent tablets, for techniques in papermaking, for sugar refining, and for the tanning of leather using egg yolks.  


He had been experimenting with margaric acid, a new fatty acid discovered in 1813 by Michel Eugene Chevreul, his former teacher. 

He mixed processed beef tallow with skimmed milk and created his product which he called "oleomargarine."  As requested, it was less perishable than butter and far cheaper. The oil is placed in churns, with one-fifth of its weight of sour milk and churned until an emulsion is formed, a red-orange dye is added to give it the right color. It is then cooled and salted like common butter. It is estimated four thousand tons (eight million pounds) have been consumed in this country in 2018. 

Taste so much like butter
that you can't tell the difference!

Mege-Mouries received a prize for winning the contest and he used it to open his own manufacturing company outside of Paris.  However, there were no more shortages of butter and butter manufacturers were back to enjoying high sales of their product which was exported to England and other countries. Mege-Mouries felt his sales suffered because butter exports eliminated the need for people to buy oleomargarine. 

In 1951, the W.E. Dennison Company received U.S. Patent 2,553,513 for a method to place a capsule of yellow dye inside a plastic package of margarine. After purchase, the capsule was broken inside the package, and then the package was kneaded to distribute the dye. Around 1955, the artificial coloring laws were repealed, so that margarine could now be legally sold with coloring so it looked like butter.





This next part might make you reconsider or at least cut down how much margarine you consume when you see how it is processed.

How Margarine Is Processed 

 With all the hype about eating heart healthy and the pros and cons of butter and margarine, the following sites might be of interest to you.

https://www.ourheritageofhealth.com/the-history-of-margarine-and-why-butter-is-better/

http://blog.fit-fresh.com/butter-vs-margarine-whats-difference/

https://bigpictureeducation.com/lovely-spread

https://wellnessmama.com/2193/never-eat-vegetable-oil/


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Infant Seat for Flying

Infant seat attached to overhead compartment 1953

Back in 1953, BOAC supplied skycots, a hammock type of carrier, that clipped onto the lip of the overhead baggage compartment just above the heads of the parents sitting in the seats below.  Skycots were supplied free to parents of infants who were not able to crawl or turn over yet.  

Although the child had to be held in the arms of a parent for liftoff and landing, for the duration of the airplane trip, the child lay snug and secure in the skycot above them. Its scoop-like sides evidently were all that was needed to keep the child from falling out.  

So I guess they didn't have any turbulence back then?

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Airplane Food

your sense of taste is altered on an airplane

You can't taste sweetness or saltiness nearly as well on an airplane due to altitude and pressure, as well as a lack of humidity. Cabin air also decreases your ability to smell, and tasting is as much about your nasal passages as it is your taste buds. Even the noise that jet engines produce can impact your tongue.



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Proper Storage For Carrots

Keep carrots out of direct sunlight

Carrots can become waterlogged or even rot if they are left in the refrigerator for too long. Store carrots away from direct sunlight in a place with low moisture, like a countertop away from the kitchen window or door.

Store carrots away from direct sunlight

 If you have already cut up a bunch of carrots to serve that night for dinner, place them in a container of cool water, enough just to cover them. Put the container in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them.  

If you want to use them the next night for dinner, cook them first, cool, then refrigerate. Use within 24 hours or flash freeze them to use within 3 months.  


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Polish humor

Proper Storage For Bread

The Bread Goes In The Breadbox

Leaving your bread in the refrigerator dries it out. At cold temperatures, your bread will turn stale, dry, and tasteless. Also, bread acts as a kind of sponge and it will soak up whatever odors are lingering around your fridge. 

To be safe, store leftover bread in a breadbox. If you don't have one, haunt the flea markets and garage sales and you can get one pretty cheap (under $5).  Mine is made of oak and I store breakfast pastries, bread, crackers, and cookies in the breadbox and they never go stale.  You can forgo the breadbox and store your bread in your microwave. Just be mindful that it is in there so you don't forget.  

The bread box will keep moisture from escaping from the bread.  


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The Beatles Refused To Play To Segregated Audiences

Before they were BIG, they had a lot of demands in their contracts

Many stars make demands or requests of the management of the different places they perform.  Sometimes the requests are easy to fill, sometimes they aren't and sometimes they are so far out there, the venues won't oblige.

 A Beatles contract and rider from a 1965 concert at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California came up for auction in September 2011.  The Beatles made several demands of the Cow Palace  - electricity and running water in the trailer, and that the dressing rooms would have four cots, mirrors, an ice cooler, a TV and clean towels.  Their salary was $40,000 for the concert.

They wanted a minimum of 150 uniformed police for protection and they also wanted a special drumming platform for Ringo.  All of this was doable.

But the Cow Palace saw one more demand that they did not fulfill and that was the Beatles refused to play to a segregated audience, meaning they didn't want their audience to be separated by color. They wanted to play to everyone.  This was 1965 at the height of the civil rights movement.

You can read about the event and the crowd of 17,000 people who broke through the security barrier and caused the Beatles to stop playing until the venue was secure again.



The contract was signed by their manager, Brian Epstein. The contract and rider were expected to auction for about $5,000 by Nate D Sanders Auction on September 20, 2011. 


 A little research shows a news article from 2008 stating that the original 1962 contract between Beatles and their new manager Brian Epstein sold for £240,000 which in US money comes to $302,697.

Another article shows the Beatles contract from 1965 concert at the Cow Palace sold for $10,780, exceeding the expected $5,000 projection.

You can read more here:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/sep/15/beatles-refused-play-segregated-audience


 

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The World's Tiniest Diamond Heist

A New York City gem dealer almost immediately discovered that the diamond thief was an ant because he had traveled only a few feet away.  The dealer filmed as the ant managed to steal one diamond, which is almost as big as he is, from a pile of very small diamonds that we can see on the desk. The camera zooms in and follows the ant carrying his glittering booty across the table. 


It's an interesting but short video, 47 seconds. Take a look. 

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Household Items That Are Poisonous To Pets

Pet owners treat their pets like their children but when they bring a new pet into their home, sometimes they don't bother to child-proof their house to make it safe for their pet.

How safe is your house for your pet?

Are your everyday household items put out of his reach?

When was the last time you pet-proofed your house?

Do you feed your pet "table food?"

The most common household items in your pantry, basement, and garage that are not a threat to humans, can be toxic to your pet.   Here is a room by room review, but each is only a partial list.

BATHROOM
Medications - both prescription and over-the-counter drugs
Caffeine pills
Drain and toilet cleaners
Bleach
Ammonia
Lime and rust removal products
Cough drops
Toothpaste
Q-tips
Deodorant
Shampoos and conditioners
Mouthwash
Toilet brush (used)
Room air fresheners
Plastic shower curtain liners (loosened)

ATTIC AND BASEMENT
Mothballs
Insecticides
Rodenticides
Paint
Rodent droppings




LAUNDRY ROOM
Detergent
Fabric softeners
Bleach
Dryer sheets
Lint
Detergent Pods
Rodent droppings

 


KITCHEN
Nuts - macadamia, peanuts in shells, etc)
Chocolate
Raisins and currants
Grapes
Caffeinated products (coffee, tea, cocoa)
Chicken bones
Table salt
All cleaning products
Steel wool
Kitchen sponges
Fatty scraps
Used oil containers
Onions
Chives
Garlic
Unbaked yeast dough

GARAGE AND SHED

Fertilizers
Mothballs
Bone meal and other products used to treat gardens
Compost
Lawn food
Glue
Weed killer
Sharp objects
Antifreeze
Windshield washer fluid
Motor oil
Gasoline
Ice melting products
Grub and snail baits
Rodenticides
Paint
Antifreeze
Windshield washer fluid
Motor oil
Gasoline

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Is Chocolate The New Superfood?

Many books and magazines call chocolate the new Superfood claiming that it can lower blood pressure, reduce risk of heart disease, and promote better memory, among other things. 

It is true that dark chocolate has more beneficial qualities than light chocolate and white chocolate.  

A universal serving size still has not been established after all these years. 

We do know that eating a lot of it will promote tooth decay, cause acne and make us gain weight. Some people who are already at risk for developing kidney stones will continue to get them because of eating too much chocolate.  Bingeing on chocolate can cause anxiety, diarrhea, and irritability.

Quercetin is a flavonol found in chocolate. Flavonols are plant-based nutrients and quercetin is a potent antioxidant that protects your cells against damage by free radicals.   

But chocolate is loaded with sugar and other additives.  Any benefits that you think you would be getting from eating chocolate are canceled out by the sugar and other additives.   


Are all forms of chocolate good for you?

If the chocolate you eat has been processed, the processing method could strip the flavonols from the chocolate, which would leave no nutrients and no health benefits.  


Whenever surveys and studies are mentioned in an article, the studies are most likely funded by the chocolate companies themselves, namely Mars Company whose operating budget can easily fund dozens of studies. Each study usually has an ulterior motive to produce a positive outcome.  Therefore the studies will find as many good reasons as possible to say that chocolate is good and healthy so that people will keep buying it.  

Like a drug.

Just because chocolate has some health benefits, do you think that chocolate has earned the title of Superfood?  Use comments to voice your opinion.


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Is The Shroud of Turin Authentic?

The Shroud of Turin is believed by many religions to be the burial cloth of Jesus. 

The Shroud of Turin

At this time, the shroud is at the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Italy.  it's a good size shroud - 14 feet by 4 feet - and there is no mistaking that there is an image of on it of a man with crucifixion wounds.


In 1988 scientists carbon dated the shroud and determined that it was actually created between 1260 and 1390 AD, but most people just refused to admit that the relic was a hoax.



In 2018, forensic teams tested the bloodstain patterns. Only one wound was considered to be "real" - the spear wound on the chest.  


The rest of the wounds were inconsistent and none matched the patterns one would expect to see from someone who had been hanging on a cross for hours and hours before being placed in a grave. 


The blood droplets on the right hand could only happen if the person's arm were at a 45-degree angle. The forearm stains show vertical arm positions. For someone to hold their arms in the same position at the same time is physically impossible.


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