Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Brotherdodge OP t1_j281i7w wrote

Mathilde was only 18 when she died and was going to marry the King of Italy, Umberto I. Instead, Umberto found himself a less-immolated bride, and their son grew up to be King Victor Emmanuel III, the spineless and ineffectual monarch who installed Mussolini as dictator.

TLDR: If vaping was around in the 1860s, it might have prevented the rise of fascism.

591

winmag1320 t1_j2821nv wrote

A major drawback to literally being laced into your clothes and then secured by 47 buttons

356

TronOld_Dumps t1_j2826go wrote

TIL - what the word immolate meant... Mostly assuming burning from the title.

21

beyerch t1_j2897q7 wrote

What did you expect? We all know that smoking kills!

3

BrokenEye3 t1_j28ak5q wrote

Moral of the story, never wear dresses.

4

Landlubber77 t1_j28bwu6 wrote

"That dress is fire girl."

"Aw you're sweet, this old thing?"

"Yeah no, you're literally engulfed in flames right now."

"Staahp you're making me blush."

"I don't think that's blush, you're burning to death right here in this very moment."

"Well aren't you the charmer, maybe buy me a drink."

"Lady, I'd buy you an entire goddamn fire hydrant full of water, you are on fucking fire!"

"You're making me so hot, stranger."

"Yeah I think they actually turned the heat on a minute ago or at least cut off the air cond--ope, no, she's dead."

10

OorPancake t1_j28k9aa wrote

This was quite common in the Victorian era as the dresses were normally cleaned with kerosene and there were live flames everywhere. (Ballerinas it seems were particularly at risk due to wearing Tulle in the vicinity of stage lights and it's reckoned hundreds were burnt to death, sometimes spreading the fire to other ballerinas trying to help or even taking the whole theatre with them.)

148

iTurnip2 t1_j28mh6z wrote

I can recommend the podcast episode Killer Fashion on The Rest is History.

2

OorPancake t1_j28spxf wrote

Replying to ChocolateConrad (#1,180,108)

Indeed.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's wife died after her dress caught light and he was so badly burned in the attempt to put it out, that he couldn't make the funeral. (His trademark beard was grown to cover the scarring.)

43

Remorseful_User t1_j28tspy wrote

This finally proves that smoking is bad for your health.

−2

SplittingHares t1_j28xig4 wrote

Replying to TronOld_Dumps (#1,175,243)

note: immolate, like the word electrocute, is often misused. When applied to a person or animal, it always means they died as a direct result of the event. Catching on fire is not immolation, immolation is when said fire kills you. Same deal with electrocution

36

phlipphlopp t1_j28york wrote

Venusian sickness dire

I want to be set on fire

Venusian, gather while I

Venusian-ly catch on fire

Auto-cremate

SELF IMMOLATE

6

jsheik t1_j290d5m wrote

She was smoking hot!!

−2

Khelthuzaad t1_j299nh6 wrote

Replying to Brotherdodge (#1,175,114)

>If vaping was around in the 1860s, it might have prevented the rise of fascism.

You jest but Hitler was a huge anti-smoking supporter.One of the less known campaign of his was probably the most effective anti-tobacco campaign in Europe in the 1930'' in a time where everyone was addicted to it.

Also noted Germans invented Heroin as a coughing syrup :))

71

GolfballDM t1_j29fid1 wrote

My grandfather was hiding a lit cigarette from his father (by putting it in his pocket), but his father had already seen it. So his father kept the conversation going while my grandfather is getting more agitated because of his smoldering pocket...

Now that I'm older and have three boys myself, it would be interesting to talk to my great-grandfather to see what other hijinks my grandfather got himself into.

158

beermansam t1_j29i5iq wrote

I guess you could say the victim was

Smoking

2

Exist50 t1_j29imdu wrote

Replying to SplittingHares (#1,181,482)

No, that's outright false. Literally the very first definition off of google:

> electrocute: injure or kill someone by electric shock

Words can have a different meaning than their constituent parts.

9

crashfrog t1_j29k9i8 wrote

Hapsburgs were fairly inbred by then, I guess

−1

Ahelex t1_j29o2uy wrote

A Mockingjay, she is not.

−1

_Haverford_ t1_j29wo8j wrote

History sure went hard here to cover-up a suicide.

Edit: Reading below that dresses were cleaned with kerosene. Maybe it truly was a freak accident.

−2

OorPancake t1_j29x869 wrote

Replying to GolfballDM (#1,186,115)

I've worked on building sites where it was seen as a laugh to drop a lit cigarette butt in the back pocket of someone's overalls. It wouldn't catch light but it would smoulder until they noticed, which could be when there was a 6 inch hole in them, if they were working outside.

22

ora00001 t1_j29xn99 wrote

Smoking is very bad for you ok?

1

Mr_Chubkins t1_j2a2olv wrote

Replying to SplittingHares (#1,190,181)

It can be, but is not always. From Merriam-Webster Dictionary: electrocute, verb, to kill or severely injure by electric shock.

I understand that the origins of the word come from execute, and that its original meaning was always to kill with electricity, but that is no longer the case. Just as how decimate used to mean killing 10% but now has further meaning, so does electrocution.

4

Marine__0311 t1_j2a429y wrote

Replying to Khelthuzaad (#1,184,619)

It wasn't effective at all, in fact the numbers of smokers went up while the Nazis were in power. Germany did lead the world in anti-tobacco use campaigns as well as research of the negative effects tobacco had on health, but that began well before the Nazis took power.

While the anti-smoking campaign in Nazi Germany was highly touted, anti-smoking laws were routinely ignored, poorly enforced, and pretty much useless. Their effectiveness was marginal at best, and after 1940, was heavily restricted by the government.

The Nazi Party actually made a huge amount of money from tobacco sales, and controlled the market. You might find this interesting. Sturm Cigarette Company

14

brkh47 t1_j2abk30 wrote

Replying to GolfballDM (#1,186,115)

Some years back, when my sister and her friend were chilling in our back yard, my dad caught them with a pack of cigarette. I think my sister and her friend were around 14 yrs old at the time. When my dad questioned them, the friend said the cigarettes didn’t belong to them, it belonged to her brother, Iz. When he asked, well then why wasn’t the cigarettes with Iz, she responded, “Because Iz doesn’t have pockets in his pants.”

20

raul_lebeau t1_j2ajsmi wrote

Smoking is dangerous for your health, but fire is worse

1

Halas1920 t1_j2b0i7n wrote

Natural Selection at its finest.

1

CuriousPumpkino t1_j2b7ugv wrote

The extreme version of “oh look if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions”

1

AUWarEagle82 t1_j2bxv06 wrote

TIL: Smoking can be dangerous to your health.

1

Kiyae1 t1_j2cbnbd wrote

Replying to Redoneter593 (#1,193,654)

The lesser known chemical Industrial Revolution created numerous hazards to everyday life, just like the mechanical Industrial Revolution did. Instead of getting your hand caught off in an industrial loom you’d die because your clothes were washed in kerosene and the electric grid still doesn’t exist or still sucks so everything is lit by flame.

5

richard_stank t1_j2cnely wrote

Cigarettes at that time were not a high society commodity. They were pretty much used by people that couldn’t afford to smoke entire cigars throughout the day, or didn’t have a pipe. Very working class.

Snuff would have been a more socially acceptable tobacco product. I wonder who she got the cigarettes from. Maybe a maid, grounds keeper?

1