Our first Wren evening was a "knockout," in the spring of 1943. The Hall was so packed that men were even perched on the window ledges. No audience could possibly have been more enthusiastic or shown their appreciation in a greater degree. I am sorry I have not that first program. Third Officer Phillips and several of the other officers sat in the front row of the Rest Room, really the dressing room on concerts nights. One of the officers recited and I have never laughed so much as I did that night she told us about the woman who swallowed a fly and then swallowed a cat to eat that fly and a dog to eat the cat, and so on: her "swallows" each time were so realistic.

— Dorothy B. King, Happy Recollections (1946). Copied from Wikipedia.

And of course that was only the 1940s, not the 1700s when the painting in the OP was painted.

[–] Canconda@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 hours ago

Dopamine was a lot harder to come by in those days. Had to rub 2 sticks together or something.