“Well, doctor, let’s see, what can medicine do about the flu?”
“Hum! hum! All that Medical Faculty could find is that the flu is called Gripta in Polish!”
(Le Monde comique, Paris, 1888)

Yet another French pun about Spanish neutrality during the war:
“It won’t last long… It’s the Spanish flu.”
“It’s not serious, is it, doctor?”
“Heh! Don’t be fooled, it’s neutral.”
(Le Régiment, Paris, 1918)

(Le Régiment, Paris, 1919) (Sexist fare for the troops.)

Finally, what do we call superfluous?… Hors-d’oeuvre, for example… But they are necessary to admire the most rosy of the nails when they are unwrapped with an indolent finger…

Perfume?… But it is necessary to fight the Spanish flu… The [Medical] Faculty will tell you, ah!…

Our little doggie?… But he is needed as a liaison… (A war veteran looks at the address on the dog’s collar.)

High laced boots?… But they are necessary to emphasize the arch of the foot and the size of the calf above the thinness of the ankle…

Our light and scanty chemise?… That, I grant you, is sometimes superfluous…

A nice aviator?… But I assure you that it is badly necessary when you have an old husband…

“Doctor, how are you charging me five francs for the visit?”
“But that’s cheaper than for everyone else.”
“That’s true, but think about the fact that I was the one who brought the influenza to the neighborhood.”
(Le Monde comique, Paris, 1896) (See this similar German cartoon as well as this nearly identical French cartoon three decades later.)

(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!

“I’m afraid to pay my tribute to the Spanish flu…”
“If I was sure, I would ask for an extension of permission to carry it to the Krauts!”
(Le Régiment, Paris, 1918)

“What are you ailing from?”
“Influenza… it’s nothing…”
“Nothing?… But you know that one dies within twenty-four hours…”
(Le Journal amusant, Paris, 1892)

(Le Régiment, Paris, 1919)

“I’m panicked… my husband, who’s gone to the provinces on business, is stuck in bed down there with the Spanish flu…”

“I can’t stand it any longer… I love him too much… I’m going to join him… A few light clothes and off we go!…”

“Here’s his hotel!!! Here’s the door to his room… In we go!”

“Oh, what a sight!!! I sure see the Spanish… but where is the flu???”

(Le Journal amusant, Paris, 1929) (French stereotypes are alive and well here.)

The flu is waning … beware!
The work of the anti-drip on the nose warns you against the gallants suffering from coryza.

The flu germs are transmitted by the mouth. Detestable, these supplies of mouth.

Always carry a vaporizer to clean your larynx and nasal passages.

Avoid people who sputter. Use a protective screen.

If you must sleep with someone who has the flu, demand that he wear a protective mask.

Hot drinks, strongly alcoholic, are recommended. A good meal is a sovereign remedy.

Put a good hot water bottle in your bed. Keep your stomach warm.

Fight against the nervous breakdown which follows a flu attack through gymnastic exercises broken by long rests.

“I’m pretty sure I have the flu.”
“It’s nothing at all. What would be serious is if you were to give it to me.”
(La Dépêche, Toulouse, 1933)

in the faubourg Saint-Germain, in January in the year of the Flu 1890
(La Caricature, Paris, 1890)