In keeping with the Halloween spirit
Monday, October 8th, 2012 07:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tsaikoSince I have today off (Columbus Day is a Federal holiday, strangely enough), I figured I'd post a article to inspire Halloween tales. It deals with vampires in America during the late 1800s, strangely enough.
The Great New England Vampire Panic.
I thought it interesting that this vampire hunt (and one that also occurred in the Chicago area both dealt with tuberculosis (called consumption at the time). Consumption was a very, very common disease during the Victorian era. So much so that there is a lot of speculation that the Victorian ideal beauty (thin, frail, fainting, pale, with shortness of breath to produce the infamous heaving bosom) is based on the symptoms of tuberculosis. The Smithsonian article even mentions that one of the characters that becomes a vampire in Bram Stoker's Dracula (published 1897) wastes away like a victim of tuberculosis.
The Great New England Vampire Panic.
I thought it interesting that this vampire hunt (and one that also occurred in the Chicago area both dealt with tuberculosis (called consumption at the time). Consumption was a very, very common disease during the Victorian era. So much so that there is a lot of speculation that the Victorian ideal beauty (thin, frail, fainting, pale, with shortness of breath to produce the infamous heaving bosom) is based on the symptoms of tuberculosis. The Smithsonian article even mentions that one of the characters that becomes a vampire in Bram Stoker's Dracula (published 1897) wastes away like a victim of tuberculosis.
(no subject)
Date: 10/8/12 01:31 pm (UTC)Huh, as in, so many women are sickly and frail from TB, even the rich and powerful ones, might as well make it something to strive for?
(no subject)
Date: 10/8/12 05:55 pm (UTC)I wondered about that too. Then again, fear of the unknown does not lend itself to rationality. :D
I think I read on Wikipedia that during the 1800s one in four people died from TB. So 25% of the population. That and the Victorian's absolute fascination with death probably combined to cause it to be the "ideal." Personally, I find it a bit creepy. Then again, I'm not from the time period.
(no subject)
Date: 10/19/12 11:55 am (UTC)Well, I guess I better use a vampire icon... ^_^