Morbid curiosity
Behind a plate-glass window are three bodies. Except for their leather loincloths, they are naked. From a pipe above each bed, a trickle of cold water runs down their faces. Their eyes are closed. They are dead -- one is swollen by drowning, one gashed by an
industrial accident, another stabbed -- and a crowd gathers.
This is the Paris morgue, circa 1850. The purpose of the display was to get the public's help in identifying unnamed corpses. Many deaths from workplace accidents and many men worked out of their district. But around the turn of the century, the morgue developed a reputation as a gruesome public spectacle and was even listed in tourist guidebooks as one of the city's unmissable attractions.
With the crowds came snack sellers and street performers, creating an almost festival atmosphere. The press reported in lurid detail on the latest crimes in the city -- you could read about a murder in the paper and then pop over to the morgue to view the victim's body. The stories described those who flocked to the morgue not as morbid gawkers, but as concerned individuals driven by empathy and a strong moral sense. The equivalent of a crowd rubber-necking at an accident was seen as an expression of solidarity borne out of tragedy. (Via JSTOR Daily)
Better slogan
In the UK, new Covid-19 restrictions allowing groups of
up to six people has as become known as "The Rule of Six". A reader suggests that a better government slogan might have been "Six in the City".
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