024: Ha'penny Horrid Minisode: Hints for the Man-About-Town — How to recover smoothly from the ill effects of a night of debauchery, mayhem, and ... indiscretion: Part 1 of 3

IN WHICH we explore a fascinating little guidebook for all aspiring Swell Coves, from 1840. It’s titled “Hints to Men-About-Town,” and was written by an anonymous knight of the goosefeather who identifies himself only as “The Old Medical Student.”

It's a series of three, starting with this episode. In it, we'll learn how to gracefully recover from the visible effects of getting involved in a drunken riot, or a street brawl, or maybe an unsuccessful attempt to box a charley — or whatever other unfortunate chain of events is likely to ensue when a high-spirited young man-about-town cries, “Hold my blue ruin and watch this!”

Not all of this is good medical advice, I'm sorry to say. There have been a few updates to the basic book of physic in the 185 years since this little guidebook was written.

Here's an outline of the contents ...

• 00:00: Overview, and some info about early-Victorian medicine
• 09:00: How to fix black eyes WITHOUT electric sparks
• 21:00: How to fix black eyes WITH electric sparks and/or magnets
• 24:45: How to fix bloody noses
• 25:30: How to fix sprained limbs
• 28:45: How to re-seat a dislocated thumb after you have punched a fellow roisterer really hard without knowing what you're doing (this apparently happened a lot).

NEXT TUESDAY in Part 2 we'll learn some late-Regency Best Practices on keeping up the appearance of being a heavy drinker without ending up with a horrible hangover... and

THE FOLLOWING TUESDAY, Part 3 is crammed with 185-year-old tips on how to navigate the many social and emotional (as well as, er, medical) issues that can challenge a fast young rake due to — hmm, how do I put this delicately? —excessive enjoyment of the company of very friendly ladies.

Join us!