Between the 1600s and 1700s, the Palace of Versailles dazzled visitors with its magnificence—glittering mirrors, golden halls, and manicured gardens. Yet behind the beauty lurked a shocking truth: there were no bathrooms.

In an era without toothbrushes, deodorant, toilet paper, or running water, hygiene was primitive at best. Waste was often tossed straight out of windows, and during royal festivities, Versailles’ gardens doubled as open-air toilets. Even grand banquets for 1,500 guests were prepared in kitchens with almost no sanitary standards.

Women fanned themselves not only for elegance, but to mask suffocating odors and keep insects at bay. Showers were a rarity, as water was scarce and winters bitterly cold.

Marriage and Hygiene Traditions
Hygiene shaped customs, too. Most weddings were held in June, shortly after the “first bath of the year” in May—when people were still relatively clean. Brides carried bouquets to disguise unpleasant smells, a tradition that survives today.

Bathing itself was communal: a single tub of hot water was shared, with the head of the household first and babies last. By then, the water was murky—sometimes dangerously so.

Life at Home
Homes offered little comfort. Roofs lacked inner linings, exposing beams where rats, cats, and insects nested—often falling into rooms when it rained. Dining ware carried its own risks: tin plates reacted with acidic foods like tomatoes, once thought poisonous. Alcohol mixed in tin cups could knock someone unconscious, sometimes mistaken for death.

Wakes and “Saved by the Bell”
To ensure no one was buried alive, families held wakes—keeping the “deceased” on a table for hours, waiting to see if they stirred. In crowded English cemeteries, ropes were tied to corpses’ wrists, leading to bells above ground. Watchmen listened through the night, ready to rescue anyone who rang. From this chilling practice comes the phrase “saved by the bell.”