It was said that some of the wallpapers that William Morris was involved in the manufacture of, actually contained poison. With a quest for beautiful [1] wallpaper Morris brought back some old trades that were fading in that era. A study in Aberdeen showed the green pigment used in this early patterned wallpaper was found to contain the toxic element arsenic. If the room was damp and cold, this would release the arsenic into the air, slowly killing people nearby. The same was happening all over the hospital trade were workers were falling ill and some would die after painting the tiles Green before they were put into the furnace. The green paint was applied with a brush and just before people died it was said they lost there mind. This is were the saying “As daft as a brush” was derived. If you were the person painting the tiles, your job description was ” The Brush”. After a small study was taken, it was finally found to contain arsenic. To combat the problem, hospital employers introduced job rotation and everybody had a stint on The Brush. It took longer but in the end, the entire workforce went crazy and died!!

1 [2] 2 [3] 3 [4]

1 - William Morris, peddler of poisonous wallpaper? (William Morris aged 41, photographed by Frederick Hollyer (source: William Morris Gallery))
2 - Toxic wallhanging ’Daisy’ wallpaper
3 - Toxic wallhanging ’Trellis’ wallpaper