Why Do We Shake Hands?

PBS Member Stations rely on viewers like you. To support your local station, go to http://to.pbs.org/DonateORIG
↓ More info and sources below ↓

Check out Self-Evident on PBS Voices:    • Being 10 in 2020 | Self-Evident  

Will we ever shake hands again?! With the current state of the world, no one can really say. But that got us wondering... why do we shake hands in the first place? Today, Danielle traces the history of the handshake from Babylonia and the early Greeks to the present.

Special thanks to our Historians Harry Brisson and
Melanie-Antonietta Brown and Archivist Rachel Brice on Patreon!
Join them at   / originofeverything  

Created and Hosted by Danielle Bainbridge
Produced by Complexly for PBS Digital Studios

---

Follow us on...
Facebook:   / originofeverythingpbs  
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pbsoriginof...

---

Origin of Everything is a show about the untold histories and cultural dialogues that make up our collective story. From the food we eat, to the trivia and fun facts we can’t seem to get out of our heads, to the social issues we can’t stop debating, everything around us has a history. Origin of Everything is here to explore it all. We like to think that no topic is too small or too challenging to get started.

Works Cited:

Albrecht, Karl. “The Art (And Psychology) of the Handshake.” Psychology Today. June 10, 2017.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...

Andrews, Evan. “The History of the Handshake.” History.com. Updated, March 16, 2020.
https://www.history.com/news/what-is-...

Carey, Mathew. “A Short Account of the Malignant Fever Lately Prevalent in Philadelphia with a Statement of the Proceedings That took place on the subject, in different parts of the United States To which are added, Accounts of the Plague in London and Marseilles; and a list of the Dead From August 1, to the middle of December, 1793.” Philadelphia, Mathew Carey Publisher: 1794.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/philad...

Cohen, Jennifer. “Seven Super Revealing Things Your Handshake Says About You.” Forbes. June 2, 2015.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifer...

“Coin: Museum number R.8153.” 128-132 AD. The British Museum Online.
https://www.britishmuseum.org/collect...

Garber, Megan. “Good Riddance to the Handshake: A Terrible Custom is Gone for Good. Halleluja.” The Atlantic. May 11, 2020.
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/a...

Given, Leila I. “The Bacterial Significance of the Handshake.” The American Journal of Nursing Vol. 29, No. 3 (Mar., 1929), pp. 254-256. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3408961

Gunia, Amy. “’I Don’t Think We Should Ever Shake Hands Again.’ Dr. Fauci Says Coronavirus Should Change Some Behaviors for Good.” Time.com. April 9, 2020.
https://time.com/5818134/anthony-fauc...

Hartley, Florence. The Ladies’ Book of Etiquette, and Manual of Politeness. Boston: G. W. Cottrell, 1860.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35123...

The Holy Bible: King James Version. King James Bible Online, 2020. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/...

Homer, The Iliad. Samuel Butler, transl. Internet Classics Archive. http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.html

Homer, The Odyssey. Samuel Butler, transl. Internet Classics Archive.
http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey...

Klein, Christopher. “8 Historic Handshakes.” History.com, Updated, March 16, 2020.
https://www.history.com/news/8-histor...

Mayo Clinic News Network. “Experts: Handshakes Should Stop Even After Coronavirus.” Boston Herald. April 16, 2020.
https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/04/...

“Shalmaneser III and Marduk-Zakir-Shumi I.” c. 858–842 BC. AKG-Images.
https://www.akg-images.co.uk/archive/...

Stiepan, Dee Dee. “Is Covid-19 the End of the Handshake as we Know It?” Mayo Clinic News Network. April 13, 2020.
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/di...

Strochlic, Nina. “Why Do We Touch Others So Much? A History of the Handshake Offers Clues.” National Geographic Society. March 12, 2020.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/hi...

“Unknown Maker Grave Stele.” 400 BC. The Getty Collection Online.
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/o...