• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • ABOUT
    • MASTHEAD
    • ADVERTISE
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

CURRENT STREET EDITION

DIG 23.05 – 4/8/21

GET A GRIPPE: THE FLU HIT BOSTON EXTREMELY HARD 100 YEARS AGO

Written by PETER ROBERGE Posted February 19, 2018 Filed Under: COLUMNS, Dirty Old Boston, News, NEWS+OPINIONS

 

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, the Commonwealth has recently seen as many as 1,700 new cases of the flu every week. The influenza scare has made national headlines for more than a month and stayed there even through the school shooting in Florida and various presidential insults, as flu-related hospitalizations have risen high enough to spur facilities in California to arrange overflow tents in parking lots to keep up with the influx of patients.

 

Flash back to 100 years ago, when the Spanish flu epidemic was similarly worrying Americans. With vaccine developments not nearly as ubiquitous as they are in 2018, many Boston-area doctors relied on pseudoscience and, out of both desperation and ignorance, said and did whatever they could to tame an ongoing public outrage about flu deaths. Countless citizens worried they could drop dead next. By the end of 1918, more than 1,000 people had died from the flu in Boston alone.

 

Doctors hurriedly dreamed up creative, if often ridiculous, cures, the whole time reassuring people that the outbreak was contained. Some imprudently advised their patients to inhale things like “acid gas” fumes, while others sought more modern remedies. At the dawn of the 1918 epidemic, Boston Mayor Andrew Peters publicly received a flu shot in an effort to spread awareness.

 

Of course, New Englanders have endured influenza for more than a century. Before the Spanish flu, people often suffered from what was commonly called the grippe. Struggling to slow the rising death toll, people often relied on whiskey, which had long been advertised as an effective remedy against most sicknesses. In the late 1800s and even during Prohibition in the 1920s, Boston officials issued permits for doctors to prescribe whiskey to flu patients.

 

Patients In Unidentified Ward | Photo via Boston City Archives

 

Another popular solution in the Boston area was quinine, a compound commonly used at the time to fight diseases, including malaria. The media played a significant role in the response effort, and in 1889 began pushing quinine as a better alternative to whiskey, leading to the drug seeing a five-times increase in sales. Quinine overdoses eventually became frequent; still, as reliable remedies continued to elude health officials, some pharmacists went rogue. One outlaw became notorious around the city for selling a home-brewed solution; his tagline: The only sure cure for the grippe.

 

Looking back, it seems like several outlets went to great lengths to blame anyone and everyone besides the government. In one instance, a writer at the Boston Daily Globe even accused the Chinese community of having and withholding the antidote, a statement based on the reporter’s personal observation that Chinatown residents had avoided the flu altogether.

 

 

The deaths confused even the most respected of doctors. Influential US Surgeon General Rupert Blue told the Boston Sunday Post in 1919 that the germ was “preparing for a mighty attack on the human race.”

 

After the dust settled in the early 1920s, details of the outbreaks slowly vanished from the popular narrative. But as the current nightmare mounts—Massachusetts has seen more than 100 flu deaths a week since the beginning of the year—it may be helpful to revisit our past and to see how political and healthcare leaders before us moved past hysterics to find solutions.

 

This throwback is a collaboration between Dirty Old Boston, the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, and DigBoston. For more throwbacks visit facebook.com/dirtyoldboston and binjonline.org.

PETER ROBERGE
More from author
  • PETER ROBERGE
    https://digboston.com/author/peter-roberge/
    DIRTY OLD BOSTON: THE RISE AND RAGE OF BOSTON PUNK IN THE '70S, ON FILM
  • PETER ROBERGE
    https://digboston.com/author/peter-roberge/
    DIRTY OLD BOSTON: THE HUB’S WAR ON SATAN
  • PETER ROBERGE
    https://digboston.com/author/peter-roberge/
    SOUL SURVIVORS: A DEEP LOOK AT THE HUB'S OBSCURE DISCO SCENE
  • PETER ROBERGE
    https://digboston.com/author/peter-roberge/
    THROWBACK: IS HOMELESSNESS WORSE IN BOSTON NOW THAN IT WAS A CENTURY AGO?

Filed Under: COLUMNS, Dirty Old Boston, News, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: Boston, Dirty Old Boston, flu, history, influenza, Massachusetts, throwback

WHAT’S NEW

PICS & RECAP: JUSTICE 4 DUANTE WRIGHT JUSTICE 4 ALL EMERGENCY RALLY 

PICS & RECAP: JUSTICE 4 DUANTE WRIGHT JUSTICE 4 ALL EMERGENCY RALLY 

A SHORT DOC ABOUT HOW DIGBOSTON WEATHERED A PANDEMIC YEAR

A SHORT DOC ABOUT HOW DIGBOSTON WEATHERED A PANDEMIC YEAR

FULL PARKING ENFORCEMENT RETURNS TO BOSTON, BLUEBIKES STILL AVAIL FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS

FULL PARKING ENFORCEMENT RETURNS TO BOSTON, BLUEBIKES STILL AVAIL FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS

EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE AND RALLY FOR DAUNTE WRIGHT

EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE AND RALLY FOR DAUNTE WRIGHT

POLITICIANS GET IN LINE TO CALL FOR BOSTON POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

POLITICIANS GET IN LINE TO CALL FOR BOSTON POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY

PARENTS RELEASE AN ANALYSIS OF BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDRAISING INEQUITIES

PARENTS RELEASE AN ANALYSIS OF BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOL FUNDRAISING INEQUITIES

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • VACCINE EQUITY NOW! COALITION ASKS BAKER TO ALLOCATE 20% OF NEW DOSES TO HARD HIT COMMUNITIES by SHIRA LAUCHAROEN
  • IF YOU’RE SURPRISED THE BPD CODDLED AN ACCUSED MOLESTER COP, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION by CHRIS FARAONE
  • rally to protest discrimination and crimes against Asian and Pacific islanders during Stop Asian Hate rally on Boston Common in Boston PICS & RECAP: “STOP ASIAN HATE BOSTON” RALLY ON THE COMMON by KEIKO HIROMI
  • A FAREWELL TRIBUTE (OF SORTS) TO MARTY WALSH by DIG STAFF
  • THE MYSTERY OF CHEZ TORTONI by CHRISTOPHER EHLERS

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 2.1 – March 2021

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG 23.05 – 4/8/21

Footer

digbos

digbos
“My administration is doubling down on our work “My administration is doubling down on our work to stand up the #Boston Office of #Police Accountability and Transparency.” https://digboston.com/politicians-get-in-line-to-call-for-boston-police-accountability/ #politics #Massachusetts
This week is your last chance to hit up Mooby’s This week is your last chance to hit up Mooby’s in #Boston … https://digboston.com/moobys-boston-how-kevin-smith-has-brought-his-pick-up-experience-to-10-cities-during-the-pandemic/ #fan #popup #fun #restaurant #movie #Massachusetts #snoochieboochies
The group is asking that polices address the dispa The group is asking that polices address the disparities the #data has revealed. https://digboston.com/parents-release-an-analysis-of-boston-public-school-fundraising-inequities/ #education #school #public #study #fundraising #racism #Boston #Massachusetts
“We’re not going to survive for 20 more years “We’re not going to survive for 20 more years if we don’t do this [move to a bigger space].” https://digboston.com/how-juliet-hit-a-100k-kickstarter-goal-in-4-days/ #restaurant #business #food #crowdfund #SomervilleMA #coronavirus #COVID19
EDITORIAL: DIGBOSTON SEEKS CLIMATE IDEAS FOR MAYOR EDITORIAL: DIGBOSTON SEEKS CLIMATE IDEAS FOR MAYOR KIM JANEY. Environmental organizations and individual activists invited to submit opinion articles for publication. https://digboston.com/editorial-digboston-seeks-climate-ideas-for-mayor-kim-janey/ #politics @boston_mayor #environment #globalwarming #climate #activist #callforsubmissions #policy #Boston #Massachusetts
“Most are some of my favorite bars or local clas “Most are some of my favorite bars or local classics that I’ve learned to love in my time living in the city. Others just have a great facade that I know would make a great drawing.” https://digboston.com/drawn-but-not-forgotten-local-artist-sketches-beloved-boston-restaurants/ #art #artist #sketch #drawing #Boston #Massachusetts #bar #restaurant
Despite #pandemic hurdles, Mass #music instructors Despite #pandemic hurdles, Mass #music instructors hit new high notes. “My #teaching has gone to another level.” https://digboston.com/the-medium-is-the-maestro/ #education #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
From the podcast to the book, Wayne Federman chron From the podcast to the book, Wayne Federman chronicles the business of joke-telling. https://digboston.com/the-history-of-stand-up-from-mark-twain-to-dave-chappelle/ #comedy #history #book #interview #Boston #Massachusetts
“I’m calling on some of you to drop by a local “I’m calling on some of you to drop by a local field office and hear what people have to say.” https://digboston.com/dear-reader-the-political-season-is-upon-us-embrace-it/ #politics #commentary #election #Massachusetts
“I think most people agree that we want our publ “I think most people agree that we want our public dollars to go to those companies that are not cutting corners.” https://digboston.com/bill-seeks-to-penalize-contractors-for-unsafe-conditions/ #politics #legislation #construction #safety #labor #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]