The Great Plague In London
4.2 Costume
The uniform consisted of a wide-brimmed black hat, a mask in the shape of a bird's beak,
long, black overcoat, a wooden cane and leather breeches.
A wide-brimmed black hat was worn close to the head. At the time, a wide-brimmed black hat
would have been identified a person as a doctor, much the same as how nowadays a hat may
identify chefs, soldiers, and workers. The wide-brimmed hat may have also been used as
partial shielding from infection. (Grand Gallimaufry homepage:
http://sylvaansuz.wordpress.com/2009/12/09/the-plague-doctors-garb/)
They also wore a primitive gas mask in the shape of bird's beak. People thought that the
plague was spread by birds. There may have been a belief that if they dressed in a bird mask,
they will have the ability to draw the plague away from the victim and onto the habiliment the
plague doctor wore. The gas helmet also included eyepieces which were made out of red
glass
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