The Glory and the Dream: A Narrative History of the United States, 1932-1972

p. 66

People in England in the 1870s carried oranges with them not for their taste but for their smell. “Even where sanitation existed, not all street odors were pleasant. Deodorants were unknown. The poor reeked, which was why they were unwelcome in Victorian churches. People carried oranges to dull the stench of sweat, vermin, and manure. Before that, the Elizabethans had used pomanders, small balls of pierced metal packed with fragrant herbs. To this day [i.e., 1973], London judges mount their benches bearing nosegays and once a year herbs are scattered in courtrooms.”