Originally published at: The Paste Eater's Grave | Boing Boing
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Scarily, alum was used in other products intended for human consumption, like bread.
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On a tombstone:
Sacred to the memory of
Major James Brush
Royal Artillery, who was killed
by the accidental discharge of
a pistol by his orderly,
14th April 1831.
Well done, good and faithful servant.
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Alum is mostly OK. It’s basically deodorant antiperspirant (and has many other uses dating back millenia). It’s not food though.
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I’m just here to say that is a fantastic generative illustration accompanying this post.
Midjourney gives good ectoplasm.
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I wanted to say the same about
but can’t click through to that one’s comments page. So I’m making the comment here.
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I recollect that recent story about five or six years ago, of fake chicken eggs being made in China using, as an ingredient, alum. So a little more recent, even, than the Victorian era… All the horrors of the 19th century remain alive in places without (sufficiently enforced) regulations.
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Seems like kind of a dick move.
When do tombstones ever list cause of death?
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Not to be overly skeptical, but that tombstone looks to be in awfully good condition for 100 years old, especially given the poor condition the rest of the graveyard in the background appeared to be in.
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Baby Monster. Could be the family name. I really don’t see even an insensitive family or executor allowing a deformed baby to be tagged as a “monster” for all of eternity.
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Still is. Potassium alum and especially sodium alum are common ingredients in double acting baking powders to provide that “double acting” bit.
And you can still buy jars of straight alum for use in old recipes and pickling.
Nothing particularly scary about it if used properly in safe amounts.
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Right. In the doc above, a historian points out that the main issue was the proliferation of adulteration during the era, once duties were separated in production of certain products. So, you have the miller adulterating the flour, and then the baker adulterating the bread, compounding the danger.
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