Smell on the Streets

Abstract

This chapter sets out to offer a more complex picture of smell on the streets of eighteenth-century England than has been offered previously. Far from only being disgusted, urbanites engaged with the smells of putridity and mouldy food in subtle and complex ways that were freighted with questions of social status. This is apparent from domestic advice, jokes, and satirical prints. Yet sanitary records, parliamentary improvement acts, and occupational medicine all offer declining evidence for concerns about the health threats of smell. Despite this, the smells of trades, food, and the streetscapes continued have important social meanings for city-dwellers. A study of the dichotomized olfactory representation of London’s City and the West End demonstrates the continued cultural currency of unsanitary scents.