The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History of Hygiene | Explore the Evolution of Cleanliness for Home, Travel & Historical Research

I read this book when it came out and loved it. I enjoyed just just as much this second time around. in the prologue, "But didn't they smell?," Ashenburg makes it clear that dirt and smells are affected by cultural norms and everyday life. If one lives with a smell day after day, it is no longer unique nor even very offensive. Ashenburg recounts the recent American past in which tobacco was all pervasive yet no one remarks on the offputting smell. No one since James I that I can remember at least. So besides giving us a history of cleanliness, or perhaps uncleanliness, Ashenburg is also making social commentary on the behvior within a culture. A subtle example of this is found comparing the sales of Listerine before and after advertising. One might say that listerine almost became ubiquitous. Ashenburg points out how advertising introduced 'standards' that belittled people, especially women, and encouraged/demanded that they buy products to cover up/eliminate. I see that someone criticized this book for being anti-American, but I thought that the criticisms were really about advertising lowering the self-esteem of Americans to sell more product. But then I suppse selling product is a quintessentially American trait.Admittedly my values have been shaped by growing up in the States, so I found anecdotes like defecating in Versailles somewhat nauseous (okay, I'll skip a trip in the way-back machine) and how late bathrooms came into being. I found much of this book enlightening in filling in the blanks of standard histories and biographies. But Ashenburg had me laughing as well. Talk about an enjoyable read!