Bed bugs are no laughing matter, but I had to chuckle at some of the old newspaper clippings U.S. News & World Report pulled out of the pre-World War II archives. (Click the link to read the whole article.) Back then bed bugs were as common as a bug in a rug.

• “Wanted 1,200 Bed Bugs” read a New York Times classified ad dated July 12, 1923. The Department of Agriculture needed victims for a new insecticide test and offered to pay a penny a bug. The Vienna, Virginia test facility was inundated with hundreds of thousands of the little buggers. One man sent in 12,000, promising more subjects as needed. A hotel owner, he felt he could comfortably supply the entire testing program.
• Prim Mrs. Lewis sued her landlord for the princely sum (by 1930 standards) of $500 after finding bed bugs in her furnished rental apartment. Finding her rooms “intolerably infected with bedbugs,” she spent a sleepless night sitting in a chair. I hope she got some pain and suffering money.
• In 1879 a wayward wife returned home after having frittered away the mortgage money on an affair with her paramour. After confessing all to her husband, the despondent woman tried to commit suicide by drinking a bottle of bed bug poison. Though she was reported to be near death, she most likely died bed bug free.
• A Detroit Free Press writer explained 1914 extermination methods: “Some persons use benzine, kerosene, corrosive sublimate, sulphur or pyrethrum to discourage the bedbug — according to highly credible information. Others place the bug on an anvil and tap it on the spine a few times with a hammer. This last method, while having the merit of certainty, has the demerit of slowness.”

Hope you had a wry chuckle. If you do get bed bugs, try to keep your sense of humor and call Stern Environmental Group right away. Our experts put the bite on bed bugs. We’ll eliminate the pesky buggers from your home and put a smile back on your face — guaranteed. You’ll sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests. Sweet dreams and don’t let the bed bugs bite!