Tuberculosis Chic: The Most Fashionable Disease of the Victorian Era

Poor Historians: Misadventures in Medical History

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease of historic proportions. Not only is it still around, infecting an estimated 10+million people in 2021 alone, but in a prior era, in Victorian England, having tuberculosis became something of a fashion achievement, believe it or not. In this episode, we'll explore how having this awful and deadly disease--especially in a time before antibiotics--became almost desirable in a twisted way. From corsets to fainting to so much more!
References

1. Global Tubercolosis Report 2021 (WHO): https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240037021
2. Consumptive Chic: A history of beauty, fashion, and disease, by Carolyn A. Day https://a.co/d/iMsua1k
3. Thoracic Society Stop TB Plan: https://stoptb.org/assets/documents/global/plan/GlobalPlanToEndTB_TheParadigmShift_2016-2020_StopTBPartnership.pdf
4. A starting place for Emily Bronte: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Bront%C3%AB#Adulthood
5. Voluminous PDF on the sanitarium movement: https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cbmh.23.2.457
6. Kaz Rowe the YouTuber breaks down TB’s effects on Edwardian fashion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwJ7xovktGU
7. Wikipedia on Tuberculosis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuberculosis#Prevention

England’s Science Museum blog post on TB fashion: https://blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk/tuberculosis-a-fashionable-disease/

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