The Arsenic Dresses is the story of how poisonous green pigments terrorized not only the fashion of the Victorian era, but was also used in everything from food coloring to children toys.
Clothing in nineteenth-century Europe and America was so thoroughly dangerous, it’s amazing anyone survived.
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Episode Credits
Hosted by Mark Tauriello, Jen Wilson, & Marc Bluestein.
Original story / episode concept by Mark Tauriello.
Original episode artwork by Mark Tauriello.
Show notes by Mark Tauriello.
Audio & Visual production by Marc Bluestein.
Show Notes
ARSENIC DRESSES
QUESTION: What is the most painful thing you ever wore in order to look good?
Or: What is your favorite color ?
What if I said there was one specific trend in fashion that literally killed people?
DEATH OF MATILDA SCHEURER:
In November of 1861, Matilda Scheurer, was a 19 year old artificial flower maker died in a very unusual and horrific way. Before her death, she fell ill several times in the span of 18 months with the same re-occuring symptoms. Toward the end of her illness, she vomited green water and her eyes + finger nails turned green. The days leading up to her death she told her doctor that everything looked like it had a green tint, almost as if she was looking at the world through a green filter.
While dying in bed, she had convulsions while foaming at the mouth, nose, and even eyes. Upon investigating this mysterious illness, it was learned that she had died from arsenic poisoning which she was exposed to daily at her job.
MATILDA SCHEURER CAREER IN ARTIFICIAL FLOWERS/INVESTIGATION:
At the time, she helped make artificial leaves that were used for floral decorations and fancy hats. To make these leaves green and vibrant, they would use an eye catching green pigment which contained…. ARSENIC. Day in and day out she inhaled this powder which would get all over her hands which she would also use to eat her meals. Clearly nobody knew the severity of what was actually going on.
OTHER EMPLOYEES
Her death captured the attention of the Ladies Sanitary Association to which they soon lead their own investigation and found that many of Matilda’s coworkers from the work shop were sick as well. They looked starved, and their hands were bandaged. Some of the flower makers wore blood soaked handkerchiefs and facial soars, and some were even experiencing loss in vision.
CHEMICAL RESEARCH
The organization took one of the floral head pieces for chemical research, and it was discovered that the greens not only contained the arsenic, but that the young ladies working were ignorant to the fact that arsenic is highly toxic or even used in the dyes. From their perspective, they just thought it gave you a bad cold occasionally.
Dr. A.W Hoffman shared his results in an article that went public in the Long Times called “The Dance of Death”… where it was said that one head dress (hat) had enough arsenic to kill over 20 people.
Around this time you could purchase Asenic over the counter though there were regulations in regard to how much arsenic one could purchase.
THE GREEN TREND:
At the time of all this, Green was all the rage in fashion and house-wears. The color was considered in vogue, and associated with the elite.
Why was green all the rage?
Green, the most natural and common color in nature, is actually one of the most difficult colors to artificially manufacture. The reason is because the pigments used at the time did not take well to the colorization processes and would often turn out dull and not durable. To achieve a truly vibrant green, you would have to dye the materials over and over and over again (making it incredibly expensive and time consuming)
SCHELLE’S GREEN:
It wasn’t until Scheele’s green (also called Schools Green ) which was invented in 1814, by a company in Schweinfurt, Germany, called the Wilhelm Dye and White Lead Company developed this new green dye, did this toxic trend evolve.
What made this specific process different from all the others was that is contained copper sulfate, and arsenious oxide, making the greens more vibrant, cost efficient. It was also more durable for it didn’t fade or rub off as much as things done with other green dyes that didn’t contain Arsenic . The shade was so jewel like they called it Emerald Green. Part of the reason why this color caught on was also connected to the development of gas lighting .Instead of candle lighting, people were beginning to use gas lighting which created more light
. Now parties were more brightly lit, women wanted to stand out more by wearing vibrant colors that would be appreciated more in better lighting.
Scheeles green was also used in wall paper, paints, wax candles, children toys, and fabric dyes.
GARMENTS:
In many cases, when these specific garments that were dyed but not color sealed, it would create rashes, illness, vomiting, death, hair loss, etc. Often you would see this in gloves and stockings. On one account a socialite from a “respectable house” had purchased high end green gloves . The dye however was not sealed, and sweaty palms reactivated there dye which then seeped into her skin. Upon taking off the gloves, her hands were covered in blisters .
HOMES/FOOD:
Often what trends in fashion also makes its way into interior design trends. Homes all over Britain were painted and wall papered green. This resulted in multiple baby deaths which were caused because the babies would crawl on the green carpet or rub up against the green wallpaper.
It wasn’t until Queen Victoria redecorated Buckingham palace did people start to take these warning seriously about using green colored products in the home.
She had foreign dignitary stay at the palace when it was covered in green wallpaper. The following day he said he felt ill because of the wall paper. She immediately had the paper removed and citizens followed.
This stuff was so toxic, that in the 1930s the same ingredients used to Scheele’s green was used as insecticide instead.
Despite of it’s evidence of toxicity, it should be noted that Scheele’s green was also used as a food dye for sweets. There was an instance where a baker made green leaf candies using green dyes containing arsenic which was injested making the party goers sick, causing a few fatalities.
PUBLIC RESPONSE:
During the time of all this, mainstream society didn’t really know about arsenic being used in the chemical processes for manufacturing items or of its ill effects. People were aware of what arsenic was and that it wad moderated, but they lacked awareness that it was not moderated on an industrial / manufacturing level.
When word got out to the public, it was said that women in green were being labeled as “femme fatales”. It’s even stated that Napolean, who lived in a home where the rooms were painted bright green, most likely died because of the arsenic exposure. Upon his death, they found high levels of arsenic in his hair.
However, this didn’t prevent people from using this green. It became “ill be safe as long as I don’t lick the wall paper” or “this is high end fabric and wall paper, so therefore, its made well and the arsenic will not leave because it was expensive”
People also argued that doctors were LYING because they didn’t believe in science
(YES ITS JUST LIKE COVID…. PEOPLE RESPONDED THE SAME WAY) Yes. Some were cautious and simply didn’t use things that had Scheele’s green, some cautiously used it, and some just didn’t care at all and were willing to suffer/ hurt others in order to look “good”.
DUST SPREADING:
It was common for these items and fabrics to dust and dematerialize over time, which would release the toxins.
The Women wearing these green dresses on their bodies, would feel ill but not able to pinpoint it to anything specific.
Many times, head pieces which sat right on your head, would release these toxins in the form of dust which would be inhaled directly + get into your eyes.
In many instances, partygoers would accidentally be poisoning their friends because the dye was so loosely applied, the toxins could easily be shaken out and exposed while dancing or simply having small talk .
At the time women’s skirts were very long and would drag on the side walk/street. This was before sanitization, so dresses in general were known for spreading diseases and bringing germs from the outside into their homes.
Seamstresses, factory workers, etc, would often have this “dust” kicked up into their faces when cutting the materials.
What made things difficult was truly pin pointing symptoms to poisoning. For some people, they would wear something that had arsenic in it, but might not have symptoms until the following day.
It should also be noted, that it was discovered that arsenic was not just in green dyes, but almost EVERYTHING….creating even more chaos and confusion. It was in red dyes, black dyes, white dyes, etc….and all with multiple uses (dying leather, panty hose, makeup, plate wear) the 1800s was quite literally an arsenic party.
It wasn’t until 1895 that regulations started to be put into place to regulated the conditions in favorites where workers would be exposed to arsenic.
Before the use of arsenic in dyes…
It was so popular, that they created a law stating that women were not allowed to purchase it because many husbands were being poisoned by their spouses with arsenic. It was mentioned that 1-3 men murdered were poisoned by their wives who would put arsenic in their drinks.
By the 1870s, this arsenic awareness caught on and more laws were placed into affect/ accountability for big companies + manufacturers for better safety standards. Arsenic dyes were now being replaced with synthetic dyes.
TODAY:
Green happens to be my favorite color, and even more now because of this reason. It is said that green dye has a bad reputation among seamstress and designers in the fashion industry.
Allegedly, women who work with fabrics at Chanel believe that green is linked to bad luck. ( even though co co Chanel was a nazi sympathizer and Karl Lagerfeld was a sizist prick)
Sadly there are dozens of stories about lack of safety regulations as seen in the Shirt Waist Fire and the Radium Girls. As science advances into deep ocean and space exploration, lord knows what other chemicals will be used and recalled years later due to negative effects.
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