The practice really didn't start in America until the Victorian era, when "germs are every where waiting to kill you."

Also out of (or born in) the Victorian era-

- White counter tops in the kitchen allow you to see germs. When a counter top is pure white, its clean.

- Kaiser Wilhelm II, Tsar Nicholas II, Lenin

Those were messed up times. Needless to say, mainland Europe didn't follow the crazy Americans.