Attention has very frequently been called to the presence of large amounts of arsenic in green tarlatan, which has given rise so many times to dangerous symptoms of poisoning when made into dresses and worn, so that it is very rare now to see a green tarlatan dress. This fabric is still used, however, to a very dangerous extent, chiefly for the purposes of ornamentation, and may often be seen embellishing the walls and tables at church and society fairs, and in confectionery, toy and dry-goods stores. The writer has repeatedly seen this poisonous fabric used at church fairs and picnics as a covering for confectionery and food, to protect the latter from flies. As is well known, the arsenical pigment is so loosely applied to the cloth that a portion of it easily separates upon the slightest motion. Prof. Hoffmann after examining 11 large number of specimens estimated that twenty or thirty grains of the pigment would separate from a dress per hour, when worn in a ball-room.
But green tarlatan is not the only fabric which contains arsenic. We find arsenic sometimes in other substances used in making articles of wearing apparel, usually in the form of arsenical pigments. The writer detected a large amount of arsenic in a specimen of cloth known as "Foulard cambric," which had been made into a dress; after wearing the dress a short time severe conjunctivitis was produced, together with nasal catarrh, pharyngitis, and symptoms of gastric irritation. The pattern of the dress consisted of alternate stripes of light-blue and navy-blue, and contained 0.291 grm. per square meter. Conjunctivitis has also been recorded from wearing of "tulle" dresses. A pustular eruption upon the neck and arms was caused by "a splendid dark-green dress, trimmed with light-green leaves," obtained "from a well-known Parisian atelier;" the dress was found to contain "a large percentage of arsenic."
Excessive irritation of the skin has frequently been caused by wearing stockings colored with an arsenical pigment. The writer has detected arsenic most frequently in light-red, magenta-colored and brown stockings; in one case, that of a child, which came to the writer's knowledge, great inflammation of that portion of the skin which came in contact with the stocking took place first, then occurred symptoms of general poisoning, which resulted in a short time in death.
Dr. Jabez Hogg reports also among other articles of wearing apparel fatal cases of poisoning from the green flannel lining of boots, and poisoning by maroon flannel shirts, by calico shirts, gloves, coat sleeves, hat linings, and paper collars.
Labels: arsenic, google_book_search
----- COMMENT: AUTHOR: Lee-Ann
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 6:58:00 AM
State Board for Health, Lunacy and Charity? - Sign me up!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
sewducky
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 8:17:00 AM
Having a phobia of poison (seriously, I am not joking about this, I almost cannot function with it), this is like WTF? Now I gotta spaz about my clothing too?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Alice
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 9:09:00 AM
Oh my, I'm glad we don't have to deal with this nowdays. Nope, we just have synthetic fabrics and dyes---yippee!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 9:34:00 AM
Wow, what an efficient way to cause panic in the general populace. I can just imagine all those Victorian ladies the day after reading this--standing around for hours in their skivvies, paralyzed with fear, not knowing if that dress is the one that will cause "pustular eruption."
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 9:37:00 AM
I love this blog and have been enjoying it for a while, on that note... Packrat
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 9:50:00 AM
You mean in all the clothing/fabric classes I took that no one mentioned or wrote about this??? Sheesh. This was very interesting.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: "Cornelia Jackson"
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 10:12:00 AM
Maybe Scarlett O'Hara's apple-green tarlatan caused her mood swings.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Evelyn
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 11:23:00 AM
Isn't this where the "mad hatter" term comes from - arsenic used when making hats?
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 12:27:00 PM
Wow - gives new meaning to Arsenic and Old Lace....Fashion kills...Killer Dress...
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 1:57:00 PM
Ah, now we know that Mrs. Green did it in the sewing room with the foulard cambric! Sara
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 3:13:00 PM
OH MY! Love the comment about Scarlett!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Jennifer Murphy
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 3:35:00 PM
@Evelyn, mad hatter syndrome is actually the result of mercury poisoning. Mercuric nitrate was used in curing felt and led to symptoms of dementia in hat makers.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Cookie
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 3:43:00 PM
I do not even know what tarletan IS. I just know Meg March had one in "silvery drab" and Jo had one in maroon (with a stiff, gentelmanly collar) in Little Women.
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 4:24:00 PM
@ cookie, Sandy
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 4:44:00 PM
This is such a valuable post!
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 5:04:00 PM
I read in some Victorian-era book on child care that one should never use green ribbons on a child's clothing, as the child could put the ribbons in her/his mouth and be poisoned by them. nuranar
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 5:10:00 PM
As a supplement to Theresa's definition of tarletan, among reenactor (and possibly other) circles it is known as "cheesecloth with an attitude." That is, it is very lightweight, coarsely woven, semisheer, and crisp. Ideal for summer and dancing dresses.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: bani
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 5:41:00 PM
Hugely interesting, I agree!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: DrJulieAnn
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 7:10:00 PM
Then it was arsenic. Today it is lead... What-I-Found
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 8:01:00 PM
There are still enough chemicals in fabrics that someone who works with new fabrics all the time has to be careful. I had a friend who had a quilt shop in a smallish house. It was packed floor to ceiling with bolts of fabrics and she had to air out the place when ever new deliveries were made...and it still affected her health. That was after years and years, but still....
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 8:09:00 PM
Oh wow. Poison green is one of the prettiest colors. I just didn't realize that it was from real poison! There's a quilting collection "Poison green and cheddar," and I've been waiting for my LQS to carry it.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 10:21:00 PM
Okay I am officially washing before wearing, using, etc. I thought people were just being picky. I didn't think about all the processing. Yucky. marolsh
DATE:Jan 6, 2010 11:12:00 PM
If you've ever taken a sewing machine in for servicing, you have probably gotten a small sample of the machine's stitch-out when it was returned to you. This is commonly done on tarlatan, a coarsely woven, heavily starched, and who-knows-what-else fabric made of cotton. I hope they're not still using arsenic in it!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Latter-Day Flapper
DATE:Jan 7, 2010 8:14:00 AM
Even more disturbing: Early food colorants were at least as toxic as early dyes. Thank your lucky stars for the FDA. WendyBee
DATE:Jan 7, 2010 8:53:00 AM
Great argument for governmental regulation for consumer products! China should take note! Nathalie
DATE:Jan 7, 2010 11:10:00 AM
I'm with you Cookie. I read this post and had to google tarlatan to know what it was. What fascinating comments too - arsenic and mercury in clothes... no wonder life expectancy was short! I remember my great-grandmother owning a fabulous pair of purple elbow-length spider silk gloves (which always felt really cold to the touch). She explained to me that they stopped using spider silk because they found it to be harmful (to humans; although I can't believe it did the spiders much good either!). Do you costume historians know anything about the use of spider silk in clothing as I'd be really interested? (Of course it might just have been that she was trying to scare me away from them so I wouldn't play and damage them!).
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Nathalie
DATE:Jan 7, 2010 11:31:00 AM
Having now googled spider silk, I discover how rare it is and how unlikely it is those gloves were made of the stuff... so I guess that answers my question.
DATE:Jan 7, 2010 11:53:00 AM
I've seen mention of 'never baste with green thread'. I suppose that would be one way of minimizing your exposure to toxic green pigment. Alaina
DATE:Jan 7, 2010 3:54:00 PM
Great post, and interesting- but mostly as an example of overblown scare-journalism. I'd like to see a modern analysis of extant green silk gowns from the 19th c.to see how many really contained arsenic. I suspect that this article is akin to the articles you can read now in women's magazines: "Your breakfast is causing you cancer!" and then it turns out that the effect is .00001%, and based on a single study that is contradicted by a dozen other studies.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: puncturedbicycle
DATE:Jan 9, 2010 7:11:00 AM
I've never come across spider silk before, and I have obsessed about vintage clothes for over 20 years. Humans are endlessly creative and resourceful it seems.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Lily
DATE:Jan 9, 2010 10:00:00 PM
Hahaha that's the funniest thing I've ever read!
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
DATE:Jan 11, 2010 3:26:00 PM
And another dangerous Victorian fashion - the full-mourning veils. The black dye didn't take to the fabric of the veils well and as widows in full mourning and even half-mourning would draw the veil over their face if they had to go out and end up with itchy, sore eyes if they were lucky, blindness if they weren't.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR: Eirlys
DATE:Jan 13, 2010 9:10:00 AM
Erin, forgive the scepticism but did you write this? It's so OTT that I had to ask. Though truth is, as we know, stranger than fiction.
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COMMENT:
AUTHOR:
DATE:Jan 24, 2010 9:42:00 PM
To emsmom - the book you're thinking of is Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children printed in more than 13 editions (the one I read from 1878) and at least 5 languages (include Tamil).
DATE:Jan 27, 2010 8:52:00 PM
Those magenta-colored stockings sound cool
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