Leeds museum explores history’s hidden hazards

Explosive sweets, radioactive ornaments and poisonous hats are all featured in an extraordinary collection of historic hazards, revealed in a new exhibition in Leeds.
By Alison Bellamy
Published 25th Jan 2019, 08:12 BST
Updated 25th Jan 2019, 08:34 BST
Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Social History Curator Kitty Ross with a dapper-looking top hat containing mercury, a common material used when the headgear was made in around 1840.Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Social History Curator Kitty Ross with a dapper-looking top hat containing mercury, a common material used when the headgear was made in around 1840.
Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Social History Curator Kitty Ross with a dapper-looking top hat containing mercury, a common material used when the headgear was made in around 1840.

Danger Zone, which opens at Kirkstall’s Abbey House Museum on Saturday January 26, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years.

Looking at the potentially deadly risks people unwittingly took through exposure to seemingly innocuous items like medicines, food and even the clothes they wore, the exhibition will also chart how the evolution of health and safety has helped us be more aware of the potential perils we continue to find today.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Amongst the objects on display will be a bottle of potassium chlorate pastilles used to soothe sore throats in the 1880s. Although supposedly beneficial, as the name suggests, the sweets actually contained potassium chlorate which could spontaneously combust in the owner’s pocket.

Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Pictured Dangers in the Bathroom. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce RollinsonDanger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Pictured Dangers in the Bathroom. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce Rollinson
Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Pictured Dangers in the Bathroom. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce Rollinson

The bottle is displayed alongside a dapper-looking top hat containing mercury, a common material used when the headgear was made in around 1840.

As a consequence, workers who made hats were often aggressive due to heavy metal poisoning, the origin of the phrase ‘mad as a hatter.’

Kitty Ross, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ curator of social history, (pictured) said: “The display really does illustrate how our perception and awareness of danger is something which continues to develop.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“In the past, materials like asbestos and mercury, which we now know to be hazardous, could be included in the most commonplace items, meaning people in all walks of life could fall victim to any manner of hidden risk.

Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Pictured Dangers in the Kitchen. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce RollinsonDanger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Pictured Dangers in the Kitchen. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce Rollinson
Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Pictured Dangers in the Kitchen. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce Rollinson

“Although today we live in an age where most products are rigorously tested before they can be sold and workplaces are governed by strict health and safety legislation, danger is very much a constantly evolving concept and we are still identifying new risks and health hazards all the time.

“Each new danger we are able to spot helps inform our knowledge, so in their own small way, each of the items we have on display here has contributed to making our lives safer.”

Danger Zone also delves into the past to rediscover stories of some unfortunate accidents and incidents in and around Yorkshire.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mint humbugs from the 1920s are used to illustrate a tragedy in Bradford in 1858, which saw a druggist’s apprentice accidentally coat humbugs with arsenic instead of sugar, resulting in the deaths of a number of people.

Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Social History Curator Kitty Ross with a bottle of Lentiforms of Chlorate of Potass- pastilles used to soothe sore throats in the 1880s. Although supposedly beneficial, the sweets actually contained potassium chlorate which could spontaneously combust in the owners pocket. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce RollinsonDanger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Social History Curator Kitty Ross with a bottle of Lentiforms of Chlorate of Potass- pastilles used to soothe sore throats in the 1880s. Although supposedly beneficial, the sweets actually contained potassium chlorate which could spontaneously combust in the owners pocket. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce Rollinson
Danger Zone, a new exhibition which opens at Kirkstalls Abbey House Museum later this week, explores some of the surprising everyday threats that were hiding in plain sight in homes and workplaces over the past 150 years. Social History Curator Kitty Ross with a bottle of Lentiforms of Chlorate of Potass- pastilles used to soothe sore throats in the 1880s. Although supposedly beneficial, the sweets actually contained potassium chlorate which could spontaneously combust in the owners pocket. 24 January 2019. Picture Bruce Rollinson

The exhibition also features a series of talks inspired by the exhibition which will see experts examine subjects including traditional potions and remedies and how asbestos was used in the past.

Danger Zone runs at Abbey House Museum from January 26 until December 31.

For more details including admission prices, opening hours and the programme of talks, please visit: https://www.leeds.gov.uk/museumsandgalleries/abbeyhouse/exhibitions/danger-zone

Related topics:LeedsYorkshireBradford