The DISGUSTING Reason Nobles Wore Powdered Wigs | Joe Rogan and Lindsey Fitzharris

The barber shop was a male domain because you'd also get advice on sexual diseases because of course everybody had syphilis. Oh, right. So this is a fake nose. So everybody sort of lost their noses. What? How'd they lose their nose? Okay. So something you probably don't know about syphilis. I don't know if we have that image of syphilis that I sent. Poor Jamie, I told your booking manager Matt Staggs, I said, send these images to Jamie and don't tell him any contacts. You know, we'd be like, what the hell is this podcast going to be on? They lost their noses to the syphilis? Yeah, they lost their noses. So syphilis attacks sort of the soft tissue. And the image that I sent through, which we'll show in a minute, the guy has holes in his scalp as well. Oh, wow. So that's a photograph. That is a photograph from the 19th century. Oh my God. It ate right through his head. He held onto his nose though. So you could just cover that with a hat. Oh, I guess. But it was incredibly painful and you, Al Capone had syphilis and so you lost your mind. It attacked the soft tissues, attacked the brain. It was really, so people today, you know, I'll show these images on my Instagram or Twitter and people will be like, wow, I didn't know syphilis was so bad. It's like people died from it all the time. Well, syphilis is also responsible for powdered wigs. You know that story, right? No. Oh, you don't? From the 18th century. No. Oh, I got something for you there. Yeah, yeah, you got something. When it was, I forget some noble person got syphilis and started wearing a wig. Yeah. And when they started wearing wigs, other people started emulating them because they were the celebrities of the kingdom. I feel like this is a drunk history. No, this is real. This is legitimate. And the more wealthy you were, like, because syphilis makes your hair fall out as well. Yeah. Yeah, you mean your teeth fall out. Yeah. And so the more wealthy you were, the bigger and taller your wig would be. That is where the term big wigs comes from. Oh, that's interesting. I mean, I knew that in the 18th century that the wigs were getting bigger as the fashions. In fact, my husband illustrated a book called the Gin Link Gazette. And as, it's sort of like an 18th century newspaper. And as the newspaper moves on, the women would have to sit at the bottom of the carriage because their wigs were so high in some cases. Wow. But- I wonder if the women had syphilis. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, for sure. It would be passed on or- So that's probably why they had wigs as well. Yeah. And with syphilis, your nose fell off and it was so prevalent in the 19th century that they had no nose clubs. So people would get together- No nose clubs? Yeah. And they would, in London, they would cheer the fact that- We lost our nose. Yeah, we lost our nose. We have syphilis. So they couldn't smell anything either. No. I mean, it was awful. And actually, one of the ways that they treated syphilis was through mercury, which is very poisonous. Oh, terrific. And so when you talk about the loss of- Listen, no nose club, writers in London- I don't know if that's the no nose club, but- Well, the old noses. Yeah, they might have STDs up those. Yeah. I was just saying they were top hats and underwear. Yeah. Pull up the thing, though, about big wigs so I can show her- Oh, do you see that one right up there? Oh, yeah, that's mine. Oh, look at that. Oh, look at that. If you go up- wait, up Jamie, and go- That's fine. Yes. So that man didn't lose his nose syphilis, but that's an early form of rhinoplasty that dates back to the Renaissance. And you'd have to stay in that position for weeks while that grafted. I believe this man was injured. So this guy had a cut of his- for people just listening, there's a slice off of his arm that's connected to his nose, and they have taped and strapped his arm to the top of his head. So he's staying in this position while the chunk of his arm grows into his face, and then they're going to cut it and remove it when it develops its own blood supply. Oh, my God. It's like the nick, if people have watched that show, the nick, they have a scene with this. So yeah, it was- we've been so uncomfortable. You might be better off with no nose. Yeah, you might be better off. And mercury, of course, you would lose your teeth and it just really awful kinds of things- Well, it just didn't work. No, and they had- How long did that last for, the mercury thing? All the way into the 19th century. Jesus. And so there's a phrase- After a bunch of people died when they go, hey, guys, this mercury- People are still copying, you know? What are we basing this on? Yeah, okay. Syphilis, hidden between powder waste. Oh, look at that. Syphilis epidemic in the late 1500s, you have left people with patchy hair loss. Go to the actual- who is it? What? Yeah, so these noblemen. They were all gross, disgusting people with STDs. But what is the name of the guy? Hold on, don't scroll. Go back up. Here. Yeah, okay, there it is. Oh, Louis XIV. Louis XIV, only 17. His mom started thinking worried the baldness might hurt his reputation. Louis hired 48 wig makers to save his image. Five years later, King- But if you scroll down- Both men likely had syphilis inside. Yes, both men likely had syphilis. So this is what started it all out. That's interesting. Yeah. They're hideous too. I mean, sort of modern sensibilities, that just looks so bizarre. Well, not only- Yeah, I mean, everything's gross, right? No one's washing themselves. Yeah, this is what I mean. They don't know what germs are. They have syphilis. People think it was great. They watch a Hollywood movie, they're like, Oh, it'd be so beautiful to live in the pen. No, it would smell- Who wears such assholes with that? That drives me crazy when people want to pretend- Romanticize that it was so lovely. There are terrible things about life today. There absolutely are, but this is the best time to be alive ever, by far. Yeah, people say, is this the best time medically? And it's like, well, hopefully that's always true, right? Hopefully tomorrow is better than, hopefully we're advancing and learning more in a-