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14. Surgeons took a perverse pride in their bloodied aprons – the dirtier a smock was, the better (and the more deadly).
In 1902, Sir Frederick Treves saved King Edward VII’s life. His heroics helped establish him as one of the era’s most famous – and most distinguished – surgeons. But even Sir Frederick had some questionable attitude to cleanliness and hygiene. For much of the 19th century, surgeons like him took pride in their bloody gowns and smocks that they wore over their everyday clothes while in theater. Indeed, a clean gown was seen as the sign of an idle surgeon, while an apron covered in the blood, guts and pus of numerous patients the sign of a busy man.
Famously, Sir Frederick once remarked: “There was no object in being clean…Indeed, cleanliness was out of place. It was considered to be finicking and affected. An executioner might as well manicure his nails before chopping off a head.” He was not alone in believing this. In 19th century operating theaters, surgeons would routinely hang their gowns on a rack by the door, leaving them for weeks without washing them. They would then simply put them on over their normal, everyday clothes, when it was time to get to work. Unsurprisingly, such an approach led to many patients catching infections and dying as a result.