“At first we thought it was maybe a spice-grinder or needle case,” an archeologist told DNA Info of the relic found during a dig near New York City Hall. “We were stumped.” The hollow cylinder made of mammal bone, three inches long, turned out to be historic: a vintage douche, likely from between 1803 and 1815, making it “one of the earliest documented feminine hygiene products in New York.” But, for history buffs, it gets even better.
A second, more damaged douche was also discovered among other festive refuse, which can only lead one to think … orgy?
The centuries-old trash, in a pile found three feet underground and extending to a depth of about six feet was also filled with liquor bottles and various items associated with food waste, suggesting it may have all came from one celebratory event, Loorya said.
City Hall was built between 1810 and 1812, right smack in the middle of the douche’s suspected provenance, leading us to speculate wildly that they had quite the inaugural bash. They sure don’t party like they used to.
