From Der wahre Jacob no. 162, Stuttgart, 1892:
1. And they cared for the sick,
2. they comforted the afflicted,
3. they cleaned the infected courtyards
4. and buried the dead.
5. Yet these saved themselves
6. in first class,
7. in the spas
8. and enjoyed themselves there.
“In Dresden a soldier was fined because while a patient he had failed to salute in the regulated fashion at the entrance of a superior officer in the hospital ward and left his hands on the bedcovers.”
(Der wahre Jacob no. 616, Stuttgart, 1910)
“For God’s sake, man, before you die, straighten your arm — the senior staff physician is coming!”
“You know what, my dear wife, smallpox is huge in the countryside; in the event that one of us were to die, then I will move to Warsaw.”
(Mucha, Warsaw, 1873)
“Come on, handsome, censor me!” (La Esquella de la torratxa, Barcelona, 27 September 1918)
Mr. Kankkus: “Pekka told me that cognac is also the best medicine for Spanish disease. I am happy to believe that, because now I have no fear of Spanish disease.
By the way, I think the whole thing about Spanish disease is just nonsense.”
Mrs. Kankkus: “I wonder if my husband could die of Spanish disease?”
Doctor: “No … but delirium tremens.” (Tuulispää, Finland, 1920)
Because wartime censorship was less strict in Spain, more newspapers reported on the rising epidemic of influenza in 1918, and much of the rest of Europe thus came to refer to it misleadingly as the “Spanish flu.” But in Spain itself the occasional Orientalism remained useful in depicting the origin of the disease. (La Esquella de la tarratxa, Barcelona, 11 October 1918)
File under “Lo, how the mighty have fallen,” a poster c. 1908 depicting imprisoned pashas attacked by cholera, likely in the wake of the Young Turk revolution. Let us hope the Turkish descendent in Downing Street recovers quickly from both the virus and his epidemiological foolishness.
(Digital National Museum in Warsaw)
Jeremiah Fastidious and his patented anti-cholera equipment.
(Figaro, Vienna, 1892) (There is a similar image from the 1918 flu pandemic. The satirical theme goes back at least to 1832, in this marvelous example preserved by the Wellcome Collection.)
“Fear each other, fight each other as you like, party leaders! I will reconcile all of you as an independent!”
(Polish satirical magazine Mucha, Warsaw, 1908)
Russian Imperial Ministry of Health issuing flood of directives.
Cholera [angel of death]: “I have to get out of here, because even I will come to an end with cholera from such a bombardment.”
(Polish satirical magazine Mucha, Warsaw, 1910)
If you are anxious about venturing out in these pandemic times, may I suggest Mr. Windmüller’s “highly elegant” Liquor Cane (German patent 64321), which holds ten shots of cognac to protect you against disease. (Meggendorfers Humoristische Blätter, 1892)
Imagining what theatergoing will be like once the public health authorities in Vienna introduce a gas mask ordinance. (Die Muskete, Vienna, 1918)
“Battling disease germs,” reads the headline, including disinfecting books (center and right photos). (Volksfreund, Austria, 1928) Can we have our library books back now?
Cholera draws the curtain on a slum and speaks to the public health commission: “Grasp the life of man complete, and wherever you touch, there’s interest without end!” (Glühlichter, Vienna, 1892) A colleague points out that this phrasing is taken from a text known to any contemporary German speaker: the Prelude to Goethe’s Faust.
In other words, there is ample precedent to talk about differential privilege in physical distancing.
“The metric’s right here,” insists the American President regarding criteria for exiting our physical distancing regimen. A friendly public service reminder not to take medical advice from a TV huckster. (Wellcome Collection) (And see the inimitable Tom Toles’ superior rendering.)
Sic Transit Pestilentia 