Making Us Well, Outside In

Discover how the Victorians began to clean up their streets. From air pollution to filthy water, pests in the home to poisons in food, see how the public health problems facing the residents of Disease Street were dealt with. 

Not all of the problems of Disease Street are a thing of the past, though. We still live with the need to make sure our streets and houses are clean and our food uncontaminated. Have we finished what the Victorians started or just pushed the dangers a little more out of sight? 

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Asthma smoking mixture

Gallery Highlights

Asthma Smoking Mixture

In the early twentieth century, some kinds of smoking were actually thought to be good for you.

Penny lick

Gallery Highlights

Penny Lick

The street food ice cream that spread deadly bacteria.