In the Renaissance, arsenic poisoning became a favorite of the Borgias, who used it to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Europe. Rumors regarding the preparation of a poison called La Cantarella included spreading arsenic on the entrails of a slaughtered pig, and letting the whole mess dry to a goo, which could then be slipped into food and drink. By the seventeenth century, arsenic poisoning was so rampant, among the elite of French society, that it was known as ‘poudre de succession” or inheritance powder. In the 1930s, the realization that arsenic could be coupled with organized crime and life insurance payouts led to a mini-epidemic in working-class spousal poisonings. In what became known as the Great Arsenic Murder Ring of South Philadelphia, 24 people were convicted of arsenical murders to collect life insurance payouts.
Despite the close association of arsenic with murder, there are other sides to this chemical, including home decoration and medicine. The Victorians were the first to see the home as a sanctuary. Things were acquired to turn houses into homes, and not unlike today’s numerous television home improvement shows, the Victorians were awash with household guides and magazines, informing the reader of what was tasteful and fashionable. Yet, what went unnoticed was that these same sought-after items were secret killers. One sign of good taste and being modern was wallpaper, and the bolder the colors and more garish the pattern the better. Houses were getting gas lighting which meant that there was enough light for people to actually see and enjoy the vivid colors of wallpaper. Cassell’s Household Guide, one of the main influencers of taste, identified green as a desired wall color. One particularly vibrant green was a color called Scheele’s Green. So impressive and in-demand was the dye, that it was used in everything from dresses to children’s toys and even as a food coloring. But perhaps most importantly, it was in wallpaper. And as more homes had wallpaper, there were increasing newspaper accounts of unexplained illnesses and deaths in the home, including a six-month-old who died after chewing on green wallpaper. The thing that gave wallpaper its vibrant green color was, in fact, arsenic.
