Doctor’s advice

(Le Régiment, Paris, 1919)

The flu? Nothing could be easier to avoid, if you would follow the recommendations I’m making for you…

And first of all, if you have to get in line, to join the crowd: don’t hesitate! Put on a mask against the miasma… Leave all coquetry aside.

In the subway, if a man speaks too close to you, do not hesitate to spray him with Goménol, Cresyl, or other disinfectant products.

And above all … ah! above all, don’t let anyone kiss you. Use the most energetic means to drive any intrusive person away from you.

Take baths of phenic acid solution, phenol, and other horrors.

Ah! no, no, rather a hundred times the flu: kiss me quickly, my darling… all night long I’m going to have nightmares about the idea of everything I would have to do not to catch it!