Friday, February 3, 2012
Science / Behind Our Scenes Bedbug extermination, historically
Posted by Julia Thiel on 02.03.12 at 08:00 AM
Looking through the Reader's archives to see what we've published about bedbugs in the past (not much), I came across a couple posts from Cliff Doerksen's Bad News From the Past series. The first, from 1891, deals with an invention that will supposedly electrocute bedbugs. It doesn't mention whether the device has any effects on human occupants of the bed, though.
The second isn't concerned so much with how to get rid of bedbugs as how they may be useful in getting rid of in-laws: in 1908, an elderly woman reportedly jumped out of a second-story window out of frustration with the wee beasties.
I also learned while web-surfing that the cheapest brothels in Chicago's vice districts at the turn of the 20th century were in a section at Federal and 19th called Bed Bug Row. I hadn't thought before about the role of prostitution in spreading bedbugs, but it makes sense.
- Chicago History Museum
Comments (2)
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I like how Granny, "of considerable property", isn't actually dead yet but they've already shrugged and moved on to speculating about the will. Bedbugs are a girl's best friend.
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I can't get enough of the Bedbug Registry, either: http://bedbugregistry.com/metro/chicago/re… , where you can check out who's got fresh nightmares coast-to-coast. They're adding a new feature soon: cruise ships with reports, in case you want to track those oceangoing bedbugs. I guess I'll leave the whole buffet theme alone.
