Summary
This bone toothbrush handle was excavated at the Commonwealth Block site between 1988 and 2003.
Health and hygiene.
'Cleanliness is next to Godliness'. This is a difficult maxim to follow when 'there is not one bath in sixty', when sewerage gathers in cesspits and open drainage channels line the streets.But the residents of Little Lon did practice personal hygiene. Archaeologists have uncovered toothbrushes and toothpaste pots, scent bottles, soap dishes, combs and hairbrushes.
Clean teeth and neat hair did not guarantee good health however. Doctors were expensive, so ordinary people had to rely on medicines like Holloway's Ointment and Hall's Vegetable Pain Conqueror as well as Chinese herbal remedies. Children were dosed weekly with the laxative castor oil, to keep their bowels regular.
Physical Description
This is a long flat bone toothbrush handle. The head is rounded and has holes for bristles which are missing and it has been reattached to the handle.
Physical Description
Broken toothbrush - head and handle - head broken away from handle Mended by Conservation, 1999, for display. Originally described as plastic. From Name/Identification field: Bone toothbrush handle. Advice from the Museum's Conservation Department in May 1999 indicates that the toothbrush handle is made of bone.
More Information
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Collection Names
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Collecting Areas
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Acquisition Information
Transfer from Heritage Victoria, Industry Superannuation Property Trust, 03 May 2005
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Context Number
01/23
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Site
[CCS] Australia, Victoria, Commonwealth Block, Melbourne
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Activity
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Classification
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Category
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Discipline
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Type of item
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Exhibition Collection Management
5 mm (Length), 10 mm (Width), 145 mm (Height)
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Dimensions
150 mm (Length), 18 mm (Width), 4 mm (Height)
Measurement From Conservation.
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Keywords
