Bizarre Ways that the Flu was treated before vaccines
I had been booked off work the entire week with "Influenza" as my sick note says. I was only too grateful to be able to get to the doctor and get the right medication to get better, albeit it a slow prcess. It got me thinking about how things were done a long, long time ago - and the results were so interesting. Thanks to Buzzfeed and Wikipedia for providing the below information.
In 1880 it was thought that you could Cure influenza with a “smoke ball as endorsed by the Duke of Portland! You’d insert tubes in your nose, then squeeze the ball to release vapors of carbolic acid.
In 1918, the world was hit with one of the worst pandemics, which killed 20-50 million people worldwide.
In 1919 they invented a very creepy looking flu mask, which was meant to prevent any germs entering the wearer – a picture is loaded up on my blog.
In 1920 they would Spray down the busses with anti-flu spray.
IN 1929 they redesigned the flu masks and it was almost fashionable to have that latest design .
And again in 1932 – the new mask looked like rolled up loo paper in front of your mouth.
IN 1937, there were anti-flu spray partys!
And in 1939 babies wore signs saying Don’t kiss the baby, and help prevent the spread of flu.
In the 1940s, the US military developed the first approved inactivated vaccines for influenza, which were used in the Second World War.
