The Death of Matilda Scheurer

Matilda Scheurer was as an attractive, young girl who worked in a factory “fluffing” and dyeing artificial flowers with arsenic based dyes. In 1861 she died of arsenic poisoning. She was 19.

The papers leaped on the gruesome details of Matilda’s death. They reported that before dying she vomited green water, the whites of her eyes turned green, she foamed at the mouth, and had frequent convulsions. An autopsy revealed that arsenic had invaded all of her major organs.

For unknown reasons, Matilda quickly became a cause celebre. The very women who had demanded arsenic-laced, Paris Green, clothing and shoes and wallpaper, now began campaigning for safer dyes. 

Their campaigns proved effective. By the start of the 20th century, a combination of public outcry and better synthetic dyes led to arsenic use falling out of fashion, no pun intended!

Some arsenic dresses have survived into modern times and are occasionally put on display. Curators know they must wear gloves when handling them to avoid getting arsenic on their hands. Even though these dresses are over 100 years old, they are still lethal.

Previously: A Fashionable Death: A brief history of gowns, gloves and arsenic – Part III