Vindication - a historical nano tale

Hello, there!

Beautiful Sunday here in Rio, no better time for a short story, huh?

Another NANOTALE to color your day, something to amuse you. Who could tell gentlemen could also be vile and vain?...

Vindication

   Woods carried a thorn on his side, a broken heart that weighed more than Cathedral bells. He once surrendered his hopes for a happy future to a lady just to be cruelly rejected. 'Fatty,' she said, wrinkling her nose. Since then, six months prior, Woods had never stopped rummaging and dwelling upon those  words of Miss Abigail - how deranged he was, offering his hand to a lady christened as a chambermaid! - She looked at him with disdain for his lack of the cultivation of a good figure. And she said more! 'Winston, on the other hand, is athletic, swims and carries his body like an aristocrat!' 

    As if. Little did the foolish girl know that Winston was a rake, a regular for the houses of ill repute near the harbour and already booked seasons at the spa town to treat gout due to his exaggerations with the liquors. As for her, who devoted herself to little fondled nut bonbons, her middle was noticeably more elliptical. 

    Whether it was a bastard or sweets, it didn't matter to Woods, who stood in front of the mirror admiring his slim figure. Pity was the face tic of blinkeing his right eye with every two sniffles according the shock of the belt that controlled his fat and manly impulses.

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*THE END*

How about Mr. Woods' efforts to get in shape, huhW

An electric belt! Really?

    Victorians, as many before and tons after, were people with special care for their figures. Science was advancing in full speed, beauty care with it. Arsenic soaps for the skin, lead nipple protectors for breastfeeding women, cocaine tonics for cough and these electric belts to burn away middle fat. Also these belts helped a lot more than that...

Illustrated Penny tales, 1894

history on the net

    We read about charlatanism whenever a medical procedure are fraudulent or simple non-tested, many refer to miraculous tonics and pills. Fala-se que charlatanismo são práticas médicas não comprovadas ou fraudulentas, muitas vezes através da venda ou aplicação de "medicamentos miraculosos". Quackery comes from the middle ages, the term derives from these medicines and itnes where sold on the streets advertised with shouts or quacks.

    Quackers frequently usued boisterous selling techinics to dupe customers such as teathrical stunts, lectures and tricks. These sellers used to jump from town to town before the scheme was discovered.  Only in 1906 did USA pass a bill for Pure Food and Medicins. Before that, lots of contamination came from the search for a cure - direct or indirectly. 

    With the beginning of 20th century came the benesse of electricity, and quackerism reached body aids. Those were a success! Most of these accessories used a slight electric corrent or ultraiolet light and, such as tonics and pills, promissed a wide range of cures and strenghtenings.

 

Belts were a must! 

Something like the magic blue pill + diet! 

    They were advertised in all forms and places, magazines, newspapers, etc. Belts could cure tiredness, impotent males, weakeness, indigestion, you name it! Some have straps, other are like sports supporter. How curious!

    Look at the ads I posted here. I can feel how much it hurts!

etsy

 And if you still want to try, you can find them on line...

Other NANOTALES are here.

see ya!

research came from aqui, aqui, aqui