"Exposed to it"? Hah. One of the main reasons Britain abolished public execution in the 1860s is they were too damn popular. Less isolating from the messy deta

"Exposed to it"? Hah. One of the main reasons Britain abolished public execution in the 1860s is they were too damn popular. Less isolating from the messy details of the deterrent sentence being carried out, more ceasing a drunken family day out tradition that's getting way out of hand. Sometimes tens of thousands would turn up at Newgate (Outside the Old Bailey prison, which stood on the site of today's court. It's the UK's major criminal court so often on TV) or the other major gallows. Enough that it wasn't uncommon for there to be deaths in the crowd. Plenty of merchants selling food, beer and souvenirs. Perfect opportunity for the city's pickpockets to have a profitable working day out. Madame Tussaud’s would buy the executed's clothes and a death mask to ensure the fun spectacle was available for anyone who couldn't get there on the day. The broadsides[1] (single sheet news bills, not naval gunnery) for a particular execution might sometimes be printed in the millions. A couple of million were printed for the hanging of a banker executed for fraud. Hmm. The 2008 banking crisis might have turned out different if that law were still on the books. :) So in the 1860s when public execution (and hanging, drawing and quartering for treason) ended it was with typical Victorian double standard. Now, on meat sales I'm inclined to agree. The butcher showed the process quite plainly. Tesco and other supermarkets hide it to such an extent that knowledge of cut or what comes from where is minimal. Kid's especially, aren't learning where food is really from, and I think they should. [1] https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/broadside-grand-moral-spectacle https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/broadside-grand-moral-spe...