Interesting take on things, uncircumcised men must clean every day or the smell will knock a bull over.
Explains why in the old Testament the Jews knew when an army of pagans were on the way, they could smell them 50 miles away.
Now for the French, I as half French on mothers side was raised around the Canadian Culture.
The French did not wash their hair every day, they sprinkled in power and brushed it out to absorb some of the natural oils. I have seen very few old time French men that lost their hair. Woman also had the most beautiful hair.
Jump ahead to a few years ago when I was told that the models for hair commercials to get their hair in tip top condition had the photo shoot at the least after not washing their hair for 3 days. On the second day they used a dry shampoo some kind of powder as the French do and did.
The completion, soap and water was seldom used on the face, some kind of oil be it lard, Crisco, cold cream, even unsalted butter was spread on the face and removed with a tool to scraped it off. No sun on the face and at 65 the woman had very few wrinkles.
The rest of the body received a tub bath or a French bath. One washes down as far as Possible, then up as far as Possible then one washes Possible.
How I wish I had listened to my grandmothers who warned me not to use soap or any of the skin creams of my day. Noxzema drove them nuts as did the latest pimple covers, may as well put tooth paste on the zits.
Today when I am 20 years older then they were at the time I can see they were on to something. Looking at photos of them at my age now, their complexions were flawless, the first wrinkles came in when they were over 80 years old in nursing homes and had no choice but to wash with soap.
For the men, I understand the tradition of a bride caring a bouquet of flowers started so when the smell of the groom became too intense the bride could bury her head in the flowers to block out the smell.
Before showers tub baths were used, one big tub was filled with hot water and all family members took a once a week bath in the same water.
Wasn't long before woman who had to bath second after the men discovered a science fact not proved until the 1970's. Woman would become infected when bathing in dirty water.
Told to me years ago the military took a swimming pool and encouraged the men to jump in swim about for a hour or so. When the men left the pool they dyed the water bright blue, and brought in woman to spend an hour swimming. When the woman got out of the pool they had to pee in cups and all the pee was tinted blue. The infected water had traveled up into their ureter and given them all a nasty infection.
So the old French bath found by accident 100 years before science found it was a life saver.
