Flohfalle (?)

Deutsches Medizinhistorisches Museum

Description

In the past, this object was labelled as a "flea trap; made from boxwood" in the permanent exhibition of the Medizinhistorische Museum (Museum of Medical History). The visitors adored contemplating the idea that the ladies of the rococo period were trying to catch the little pests romping under their skirts with its help. Thus the idea for the exhibition "Fleas in the Museum" (2015) was born. During the research on flea traps, it soon became clear that the previous interpretation of the object had to be revised: it was not a flea trap, but rather a decorative article that could be filled with fragrant substances. Its stationary use, far from the body, does not correspond to the historical descriptions of flea traps, usually described as stick- or egg-shaped traps which were stuck into the wigs or carried on a long cord around the neck. The material specification also had to be revised, since it is not made of boxwood but of the wood of the Coquilla nut, the extremely hard fruit of a Brazilian palm (Attalea funifera).

To use a flea trap, it had to be unscrewed and filled with a sticky attractant before being closed again. The smell made the fleas enter the traps through the holes and be caught on the bait. The trapped fleas were picked off by the trap's owner with the fingertips and either thrown into the fire or – and in the classical version of the flea hunt – cracked between the fingernails.

Author

Marion Maria Ruisinger