15 perfectly normal things that were scandalous 100 years ago

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15 perfectly normal things that were scandalous 100 years ago©Shutterstock

As we learn more about the way the world works, our beliefs regarding acceptable behavior change. At the turn of the 20th century, no one was expected to practice household recycling, for example. Nowadays it's almost shocking if someone doesn't separate their trash.
Of course it can work the other way too, and many of today's common practices would have been horrifying back then.

 

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Reading in bed©Shutterstock

Often thought to aid the process of falling asleep, reading in bed is a common habit practiced by many today.

 

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Reading in bed©Shutterstock

Yet in the 19th century, going to bed with a book was described as "little less than tempting God, to sport with the most awful danger and calamity which can affect ourselves and others."

 

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Reading in bed©Shutterstock

Reading at night had a bad reputation because of the number of house fires caused by the candles providing the light!

 

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Women in pants©Shutterstock

For centuries, women were forbidden to wear items of clothing that were thought of as men’s.

 

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Women in pants©Shutterstock

Although the first women’s pants went to market in 1918 with the hilarious name Freedom-Alls, it was frowned upon for a woman to dress in anything other than a skirt or dress until the middle of the 20th century.

 

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Teenagers with cars©Shutterstock

Arguably this one is still frowned upon, what with teenage drivers having a greater propensity to drive under the influence or text at the wheel.

 

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Teenagers with cars©Shutterstock

However, just a century ago a 17-year-old with a car was scandalous for an entirely different reason: taking the wheel signaled dishonorable intentions.

 

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Electricity©Shutterstock

When Thomas Edison electrocuted an elephant in 1903, many people were understandably horrified at the idea of powering their homes with the stuff.

 

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Not taking drugs©Shutterstock

It’s hard to imagine, but just 100 years ago hard drugs like heroin and cocaine were not only legal but actively encouraged.

 

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Not taking drugs©Getty Images

Doctors prescribed heroin and it was an ingredient of cough syrups, while Sigmund Freud used cocaine to help with both depression and indigestion.

 

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Tomatoes©Shutterstock

During the 18th century, these delicious fruits gained a reputation for being "poison apples," after a number of aristocrats suffered lead poisoning after eating them off pewter plates.

 

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Tomatoes©Shutterstock

It took a long time for tomatoes to shake their bad reputation–even 19th-century poet Ralph Waldo Emerson described them as "objects of much terror."

 

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Horseless carriages©Shutterstock

When cars first came about at the beginning of the 20th century, they were shunned by many because of the cost.

 

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Horseless carriages©Getty Images

Few felt that cars were a worthy alternative to the trusty horse and carriage that never needed its tires replaced.

 

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The color purple©Shutterstock

In 1903, the Boston Globe printed an article called ‘Colors That Will Drive the Brain to Madness.’

 

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The color purple©Shutterstock

The story included such statements as "purple is the most dangerous color there is" and "dead purple will kill you eventually."

 

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Not consuming radioactive material©Shutterstock

Before we knew the extent to which exposure to radiation harms the human body, people used to drink radithor, a patent medicine made by distilling water with radioactive material.

 

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Not consuming radioactive material©Shutterstock

Eben Beyers, a prominent American steel mogul, died of radiation poisoning in 1932. A story was printed in the Wall Street Journal with the title ‘The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off.’

 

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Daily washing©Shutterstock

At the beginning of the 20th century, it was uncommon for people to wash more than once a week.