Smoky, dirty, unhealthy. That is how peat and coal were long perceived in the early modern period. So why did households start bringing them home, just as ideals of cleanliness and health were gaining ground? In a new article in Past & Present, Wout Saelens delves into the ‘indoor’ history of energy, arguing that fossil fuels were reimagined in the 18th century to the very markers of a warm, cosy and even ‘clean’ home. Warmly recommended!
Photo credits: Jean Baptiste Isabey, The smoking fireplace (detail). first half of the nineteenth century.