I stumbled across a strange, sad little anecdote the other day as I was researching something on another topic. It was a picture of a little girl in a fashionable dress, and the author casually mentioned that the child died a few days after the picture was taken. The cause of her death was a stomach ache after eating green apples.

That struck me as so odd that I did a quick search. I was astonished—a search of death from green apples in the historic newspapers database from 1790 to the present database yielded 800 stories.

Here are just a few:

From 1817:

and 1901 and 1911:

and 1921

They go on and on, but by the late 1920s you stop seeing death notices due to green apples. Doctors quoted about the causes of death from green apple ingestion range from acute indigestion to convulsions to cholera. Articles from the 1930s to the 1970s include lots of advice columns that warn people to avoid green apples. By the 1980s, all the articles are recipes that include green apples.

The latest reference I could find suggesting they’re toxic is from a veterinarian in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (12/20/1961), who says green apples are bad for horses–and for children–because they ferment in the large intestine, causing the abdomen to swell and leading to severe pain and convulsions.

I wonder if the apples really did kill the kids, or if it might have been something else. It could have been cholera I suppose, which is a waterborne illness but can be transferred by flies to improperly washed vegetables. Or they might have ingested too many apple seeds, which contain cyanide and really can kill you in large doses.

I am working on researching the cause. If you have theories/leads, please let me know!