How Did People Kill Bed Bugs Before Pest Control Methods Became Common?

Today bed bugs are well known and familiar insects to pretty much the entire human population living on this planet. People living within cold climates are not immune to the bed bug threat. Even if you live on the North Pole, you stand a chance of encountering bed bugs on the first plane you take to civilization, as it is unfortunately not uncommon to encounter bed bugs while aboard an airplane. Thank heavens pest control professionals possess the tools necessary to eradicate bed bug populations. However, even with the most sophisticated types of insecticides as well as the most cutting edge forms of pest control technology, bed bug populations continue to grow with each passing year. Since bed bug infestations are only becoming more numerous, one cannot help but to wonder how bed bug infestations were eradicated before pest control services became available to the public. As you can imagine, people living prior the invention of insecticides still found ways of getting rid of pesky bed bugs.

The revolutionary insecticide known as DDT was invented in 1945. The invention of this chemical established the field of pest control. It is not necessarily surprising to learn that insects used to be associated with filth, and it used to be common for affluent people to associate the lowliness and filthiness of insects with the impoverished state of the lower classes. Bed bugs were great at giving rich people this vulgar impression, which made an infestation of bed bugs a particularly shameful experience for members of the wealthy upperclass. When affluent people acquired bed bug infestations, they had their servants dedicate their time to killing the insects in any way that they could. The lower and middle-class were forced to indulge in this laborious task on their own. At the time, the United States Department of Health was tasked with addressing issues that called for bed bug control measures, but the rise of the pest control industry brought bed bug control to people’s front doors, and took the burden off of the government.

Have you ever managed to kill a bed bug on your own?