9. While most suffered, a few entrepreneurs tried to find ways of making money out of the unpleasantness
Throughout history, entrepreneurial individuals have tried to make money out of a crisis. And the Great Stink was no exception. Indeed, with great smell came great opportunity. Shops across the city started selling scented handkerchiefs, to be held up to the nose in order to guard against the foul stench. Unless you were far away from the Thames, however, they were almost totally useless. Just as ineffective were the scent boxes many wealthy ladies carried around with them. The gentlemen of London probably fared better, consuming vast amounts of tobacco and trying to cover up the smell with smoke.
But the biggest winners were the chlorine merchants who made a small fortune as Londoners tried to mask the hideous smells of Father Thames. Chemists also sold huge amounts of carbolic acid. Both were used to cover curtains and other home furnishings. Such solutions were expensive and, of course, only a small proportion of Londoners actually had curtains. What’s more, while anti-stink products promised a lot, they were universally useless.