Odd Salon IRREGULAR | Issue One | The Rabbit Hole

Behind every story we tell at Odd Salon, there are so many side stories, mountains of tantalizing non-essential details, and distracting details that we can’t possibly stuff into the task at hand. We refer to this as The Rabbit Hole. 

For your perusal and pleasure, here’s some further reading, watching, and listening related to the stories in the IRREGULAR | Issue One.

THE GREAT INFLUENZA, 1918-1919

The Influenza Pandemic of 1918-1919 took an estimated 20 million lives around the world,  but its legacy was largely obscured by the horrors of World War I and nations eager to forget. But despite the scarceness of records, this outbreak, how it spread, and how people responded to the warnings of health officials may be the most relevant in understanding the pandemic we are facing in 2020 – as a result, there are now many more resources available online than even just a few months ago. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

ECHOES OF INFLUENZA: Lessons in resilience from the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic | Tre Balchowsky

FLU SEASON IN THE BIG EASY: Louis Armstrong takes odd jobs

Dig deeper:

How the Horrific 1918 Flu Spread Across America – Smithsonian Magazine

The Influenza Encyclopedia – University of Michigan Center for the History of Medicine

The Flu in San Francisco – PBS The American Experience

Unmasking History: Who Was Behind the Anti-Mask League Protests During the 1918 Influenza Epidemic in San Francisco? – UC Berkeley Medical Humanities Consortium

In Flew Enza: Remembering the Plague Year in Berkeley – Cal Alumni Association, UC Berkeley

What New York Looked Like During the 1918 Flue Pandemic – The New York Times

The Flu Epidemic of 1918 – New York City Department of Records

(Photo archive) Epidemic: New York in 1918 – Urban Archive, Municipal Art Society of New York

What Happened When Americans Had to Wear Masks During the 1918 Flu Pandemic – Open Culture

(Virtual exhibit) The Antibody Initiative: Chasing Influenza -Smithsonian National Museum of American History

Fake News and the Flu – The Wellcome Collection

The Spanish Flu in Japan and Its Parallels to COVID-19 – Unseen Japan

New Orleans & the Great Influenza – Historic New Orleans Collection

Spanish Flu: Nursing during history’s deadliest pandemic – The Florence Nightingale Museum

Artwork from the 1918 Pandemic – The Reformed Broker

Podcasts:

Pandemic: The Story of the 1918 Flu – The Documentary Podcast, BBC World Service

Dispatches from 1918 – RadioLab

Lessons Learned from the 1918 Flu Pandemic – The Takeaway

Pandemic influenza: 100 years – The Lancet,  John McConnell, Editor of The Lancet Infectious Diseases

 Print:

The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Plague in History, by John M. Barry

On Stage:

Tre Balchowsky: The Phoenix & the Flame | Odd Salon RESILIENT

SPEAKING TO THE DEAD

The 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic struck at a time when much of the world was dabbling in spiritualism, seeking solace in the face of years of battlefield deaths, and longing for the voices of the departed. The flu outbreak proved to be the final hurrah in the age of the seance, spirit photograph, and the height of the the ouija board craze. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD: The rise of the seance in the wake of war and pandemic | Steen Comer

THAT WHICH THE HUMAN EYE CAN NOT SEE: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in defense of spirit photography

Dig deeper:

Talking to the Dead: How the 1918 Pandemic Spurred a Spiritualism Craze – History.com

A History of Photographing Ghosts – Allison Meier, Hyperallergic

The Spirit Photographs of William Hope – The Public Domain Review

The Strange and Mysterious History of the Ouija Board – Smithsonian Magazine

The Case for Spirit Photography – The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

The Spirit Voice of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – British Library 

Zombie flu: How the 1919 influenza pandemic fueled the rise of the living dead – The Conversation

Podcasts:

Art, poetry and … zombies? The surprising cultural contributions of the 1918 influenza pandemic – PRI The World

On Stage:

Annetta Black ~ Spirit Slates, Spiritualists & the Desire to Believe | Odd Salon OCCULT

Christopher Reeves ~ Science vs. Ectoplasm: Your Orifices Aren’t Haunted Odd Salon OCCULT

Lindsay Lelivelt ~ Who You Gonna Call? Catching up with London’s Original Ghostbusters Odd Salon OCCULT

SAMUEL PEPYS & THE GREAT PLAGUE & FIRE OF LONDON, 1665-1666

From 1660 to 1669, Naval administrator Samuel Pepys kept an encoded, personal diary of his day to day life in London. By witnessing and surviving both the 1665 Great Plague of London and the 1666 Great Fire of London, his personal thoughts and day to day activities have been the subject of scholarly inquiry and prurient curiosity for generations after his death.

In the IRREGULAR:

PARALLELS TO A PLAGUE YEAR: From the Great Plague of London to COVID-19 | JR Pepper

MR. PEPY’S INFAMOUS DIARY: Samuel Pepys witnesses a plague year and a great fire

Dig deeper:

The Diary of Samuel Pepys – Daily entries from the 17th century London diary

Virtual Exhibition: Samuel Pepys’s Diary, Magdalen College – Cambridge University

Spirit of enquiry; Samuel Pepys and the Royal Society – Royal Museums Greenwich

Samuel Pepys and Isaac Newton – Royal Museums Greenwich

Samuel Pepys and the Great Fire of London – Eyewitness to History

The Great Fire of London – The London Fire Brigade

The Great Fire of London 1666: Objects and Artifacts – Museum of London

In Print:

Samuel Pepys: Plague, Fire, Revolution, by Margarette Lincoln

Samuel Pepys and His Books: Reading, Newsgathering, and Sociability, 1660-1703, by Kate Loveman

The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Modern Library), by Samuel Pepys, edited by Richard Le Gallienne 

On Stage:

JR Pepper ~ Hast Thou Readst My Blog? The Plague Journals of Samuel Pepys Odd Salon RESILIENT

QUESTIONABLE CURES & QUARANTINE COCKTAILS

The history of medicine is full of the stories of strange remedies and curious cures, as generations of physicians, apothecaries, healers, and snake-oil salesmen attempted to face the epidemics of their ages. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

QUESTIONABLE CURES: Unicorn horn & theriac; Bezoars & toad vomit; Pomanders & rose lozenges; The coffee cure & straight whiskey

QUARANTINE COCKTAILS: Plague year punches & cocktail cure-alls

Dig deeper:

Foolish Remedies: Goa Stone – Wellcome Collection

Coffee: a plague remedy? – Royal College of Surgeons of England

The Power of Unicorns – Wellcome Collection

Sir Isaac Newton’s Prescription for Plague? Toad Vomit Lozenges – Smithsonian 

The Theriac in Antiquity – The Lancet 

A Cure for the Plague – British Library

“Whisky May Be Used As A Cure For Influenza” Omaha Daily Bee, October 26, 1918 – Influenza Encyclopedia

The Gin and Tonic: A Short History – Sipsmith

Caipirinha: From Portuguese Medicine to Brazil’s National Cocktail – Alex Boston 

Corpse Reviver Cocktails: Recipes & History – Difford’s Guide

In Print:

Cures & Curiosities, Wellcome Collection

On Stage:

Chris Carrico ~ Our Evolving Picture of How We Get Sick | Odd Salon THEORY

SIR ISAAC NEWTON’S ANNUS MIRABILIS

During the plague years of 1665-1666, Cambridge University was shuttered, and students were forced into quarantine. For a young Isaac Newton, rather than a impediment to progress, this turned out to be an exceptionally productive period, resulting in what have been called Newton’s “Annus Mirabilis.” 

In the IRREGULAR: 

THE WONDER YEARS: Isaac Newton’s upsettingly productive quarantine years

NEWTON & PEPYS PLAY DICE: In which Isaac Newton helps Samuel Pepys cheat at dice

Dig deeper:

Year of Wonders 1665-1667 – National Trust UK

The Newton Project – University of Oxford

Newton Papers – Cambridge Digital Library

Making Science: Sir Isaac Newton – They Royal Society 

The Pepys–Newton Connection (1693) – O’Reilly Media

In Print:

Never at Rest by Richard Westfall

On Stage:

Daniel Cohen ~ Equal & Opposite Reactions: Isaac Newton vs. William Chaloner | Odd Salon DUEL

SHAKESPEARE, SEX & DEATH

Much has been made of Shakespeare’s plague year creative output, and certainly the plagues that hit London and closed theaters in the 16th century had a lasting impact on the poet and playwright. Plague imagery (and curses) appear throughout his plays, but in those early dark years his output was distinctly sexier, in the form of his poem of lust unrequited “Venus & Adonis” and in his Dark Lady sonnets.

In the IRREGULAR: 

SHAKESPEARE, SEX & DEATH: Shakespeare’s erotically charged plague year debut

Full Text: Venus & Adonis

Dig deeper:

What Shakespeare Actually Wrote About the Plague – The New Yorker

What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Living With Pandemics – New York Times Opinion

Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis – Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

Only known first edition printing, Folger Shakespeare Library

 

THE ART OF THE SEVENTH SEAL

Death playing checkers, Taby Church, Sweden
Death playing checkers, Taby Church, Sweden

Ingmar Bergman’s cinematic masterpiece “The Seventh Seal” was inspired by art and stories of the Black Death of the 14th century, and frescos in his native Sweden showing a frolicsome game-playing skeletal death.

In the IRREGULAR: 

THE ART OF THE SEVENTH SEAL: The medieval inspiration behind Bergman’s masterpiece | Alexander Razo-Myers

Dig deeper:

Medieval Art in The Seventh Seal – Cinema Scandinavia

Albertus Pictor: Frescoes in the Church at Täby, Sweden – Artway.eu

The Seventh Seal – Ingmar Bergman Foundation

On Stage:

Alexander Razo-Myers ~ The Seventh Seal: Thirty-Five Days of Celluloid | Odd Salon RESILIENT

PLAGUE MONUMENTS & MEMORIALS

Vienna Plague Tower
Vienna Plague Tower

Cities around the world have memorialized the ends of plagues with monuments and towers. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

VIENNA’S ALL-IN-ONE MONUMENT: A famous column commemorates more than just the plague | Tre Balchowsky

Dig deeper:

The Pestsäule plague column – Visting Vienna

Triumph of Life – Plague Columns – Annetta Black, Atlas Obscura

How to memorialize a Plague – JSTOR Daily 

Monuments for the end of plagues – Rome Art Lover

On Stage:

Tre Balchowsky ~ Art and the Black Death | Odd Salon EPIDEMIC

THE BLACK DEATH OF 1348 & THE ART OF DECAMERON

Published within just a few years of the devastating Black Death pandemic that swept through Europe beginning in 1348, Giovanni Boccaccio’s Decameron is both a triumph of art in the wake of death and disaster, and a masterpiece celebrating distraction and delight during the darkest of days.  

In the IRREGULAR: 

A QUARANTINE ILLUMINATED: Scenes from Boccaccio’s quarantine distractions

Dig deeper:

The Decameron Web – Brown University

Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron (ca. 1353) – The Public Domain Review

Historical Context for The Decameron by Boccaccio – Columbia University 

A guide to the illustrations in  BNF Arsenal 5070 – Medieval and Renaissance Material Culture

 BNF Arsenal 5070, Bibliotheque Nationale de France , 1432.

In Print:

The Decameron, Giovanni Boccaccio

On Stage:

Annetta Black ~ The Phoenix and the Flame | Odd Salon RESILIENT

PLAGUE DOCTORS

The infamous “Dr. Beak” plague doctor costume was a real uniform developed during the plague outbreaks of the 17th century, but the most famous image was actually satire poking fun, even then, at the absurd appearance of the bird faced physician.

In the IRREGULAR: 

DR. BEAK: On the origins of the famous plague doctor costume

Dig deeper:

Plague doctors: Separating medical myths from facts – Live Science

The celebrity physician and the plague – Wellcome Collection

Plague Doctor Costumes – The Public Domain Review

On Stage: 

Michael Brodhead ~ Plague Masks: Pestilence & Pointy Noses | Odd Salon EPIDEMIC

FERRARA, THE PLAGUE PROOF CITY

In every epidemic, there have been those who have been spared by chance, by fortune… or by very careful observance of quarantines, cleanliness, and sanitation, as was the case in the city of Ferrara, Italy which escaped the plague of 1629 to 1631. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

THE PLAGUE-PROOF CITY: How one Italian city escaped unscathed

Dig deeper:

Empirical “integrated disease management” in Ferrara during the Italian plague (1629–1631) – Science Direct

How One 17th-Century Italian City Fended Off the Plague – History.com

A Simulated Plague – Lapham’s Quarterly

PLAGUE YEARS IN VENICE

The trading port of Venice, Italy, the danger of plagues arriving by ship led to the development of the 40 day quarantine, the establishment of designated “lazzaretto” quarantine islands, to separate the diseased from the healthy. Today mass graves and memorials mark the location of these Renaissance era quarantines, and two cathedrals stand in celebration and thanks for deliverance from death.  

In the IRREGULAR: 

THE VAMPIRE & THE LAZZARETTO: Secrets of Venice’s quarantine islands | Annetta Black

Dig deeper:

Lazzaretto Vecchio

Lazzaretto Nuovo

Venice’s Black Death and the Dawn of Quarantine – Discover Magazine

‘Vampire’ Plague Victim Spurs Gruesome Debate – Live Science

THE SCARS OF SYPHILIS & THE NO-NOSE CLUB OF LONDON

In the early 1700s a story emerged telling the story of an unusual society in London, with an exclusive membership strictly limited to those with no nose. A frequent consequence of advanced staged of syphilis, which rampaged throughout much of Europe at the time, the degradation and loss of soft tissue and cartilage like the nose was a source of stigma and shame. The tale of the so-called No-Nose Club of London may have been a work of satire, but the importance of the social impact of solidarity among those afflicted with disease emerged at around the same time in the form of the first peer support groups. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

A NOSE SO BOUNTIOUS AND KIND: On the legacy and legend of the No-Nose Club of London

A FRATERNITY OF THE NOSELESS: A surprising solidarity amongst outcasts | Kate O’Donnell

Dig deeper:

A compleat and humorous account of all the remarkable clubs and societies in the cities of London and Westminster, from the R[oyal]-S[ociet]y down to the Lumber-Troop, by Edward Ward, 1756 – Internet Archive

Sex and syphilis – Wellcome Collection

Brief History of Syphilis – J Med Life/NCBI

A Brief History of Peer Support: Origins – Patrick Tang, MPH

On Stage:

Kate O’Donnell ~ The No Nose Club: Solidarity in the Face of Stigma | Odd Salon RESILIENT

Dan von Hoyel~ The Self-Fulfilling Cycle of Syphilis | Odd Salon EPIDEMIC

Daniel Cohen ~ Renaissance Rhinoplasty: Swords, Syphilis & Facial Farming Odd Salon ODDMENTS 2017

LIEBER AUGUSTUS

One unusual musical legacy of ages of plague, the folksong “Lieber Augustus” recqalls the story of a roaming vagabond musician mistaken for dead, who plays his way out of certain death at the bottom of a mass grave. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

LIEBER AUGUSTUS: A near-death escape remembered in song

Dig deeper:

(Recording) O du lieber Augustin, by Jaques Brust – Internet Archive

MIASMA THEORY & THE GARDEN CEMETERY MOVEMENT

Of the many artistic and architectural responses to eras of plague, the emergence of the garden cemetery in the outskirts of urban spaces may have been the most significant in terms of widespread impact, creating an new aesthetic of sprawling, gently false landscapes of winding paths and unexpected vistas, that would go on to inspire the great urban park spaces of the Victorian and later eras. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

GARDENS OF THE DEAD: How overstuffed burial grounds led to urban park design | Annetta Black

Dig deeper:

Necropolis – Colin Dickey, Lapham’s Quarterly

When Cemeteries Became Natural Sanctuaries – Allison Meier, JSTOR Daily

Death in the city: the grisly secrets of dealing with Victorian London’s dead – The Guardian

The Danger of Emanations from the Dead – The Lancet, 1839

THE ALASKA SERUM RUN OF 1925

In 1925, and incredible race against time pitted dogs and men against the elements in the service of the children of Nome, Alaska, facing a deadly diphtheria outbreak. In the ends, the dogs saved the day, delivered the cure, and became canine heroes.

In the IRREGULAR: 

SUPERIOR DOG TECHNOLOGY: The triumph of canine capability in the 1925 Alaska Serum Run | Matt Codner

Dig deeper:

Serum Run, the Rest of the Story – Iditarod

In 1925, a Remote Town in Alaska was Saved by from a Lethal Disease by Dogs – BBC Earth

Balto, and the Legacy of the Serum Run – Cleveland Museum of Natural History

Togo (sled dog) – National Park Service

Sled Dogs Have Been Pulling Us for Millennia, Archaeology Shows – National Geographic

On Stage: 

Matt Codner ~ Defeating Diphtheria with Dogsleds: The 1925 Serum Run | Odd Salon RESILIENT 

THE PARROT PANDEMIC OF 1929

Carolina Parrot - John James Audubon
Carolina Parrot – John James Audubon

COVID-19 isn’t the only disease to cross over from an animal source. The 1929 Parrot Pandemic (also known as Psittacosis) caused a panic.

In the IRREGULAR: 

A FEATHERED PLAGUE: The Great Parrot Fever of 1929 | Amy Widdowson

Dig deeper:

The Psittacosis Outbreak of 1929–1930, Edward C. Ramsay – JSTOR

A Parrot Pandemic: The origins of America’s 1930 outbreak of psittacosis, aka parrot fever – Lapham’s Quarterly

It’s Spreading: Outbreaks, media scares, and the parrot panic of 1930 – The New Yorker

Podcasts:

In 1929, Parrot Fever Gripped The Country – NPR

 

DR. SARA JOSEPHINE BAKER & TYPHOID MARY

Dr. S. Josephine Baker was a tireless campaigner for health reform in New York City, advocating for young mothers, the health of infants, and going mano-a-mano with Typhoid Mary. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

A PIONEER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Dr. S. Josephine Baker & the battle for New York City’s health | Isolde Honore

DR. JOE VS. TYPHOID MARY: An infamous incident, illustrated | Art by Isolde Honore, layout by Annetta Black

Dig deeper:

Biography, Sara Josephine Baker (1873–1945) – NCBI

Outwitting ‘Typhoid Mary’ – Hektoen Internations, A Journal of Medical Humanities

Highlighting NYAM Women in Medical History: Sara Josephine Baker, MD, DrPh – New York Academy of Medicine

On Stage: 

Isolde Honore ~ Dr. Joe and the Fight to Save America’s Children | Odd Salon RESILIENT

EDGAR ALLAN POE’S PLAGUE STORIES

Edgar Allen Poe’s poetry and short stories evoke a fear of death and a dread of disease influenced by his personal experience of living through outbreaks and losing loved ones to disease. Two of his most infamous stories specifically evoke personifications of plague: “The Masque of the Red Death”, and “King Pest”. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

A VOLUPTUOUS SCENE: The epidemics that inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s macabre imagery

Full Texts:

King Pest 

The Masque of the Red Death

Dig deeper:

The Cholera Pandemic that Terrified and Inspired Edgar Allan Poe – The Poe Museum

Biography of Edgar Allan Poe – The Poe Museum

In Print:

Tales of Mystery and Imagination, by Edgar Allan Poe, illustrated by Harry Clarke

JOHN EARLY, WORLD FAMOUS LEPER

For most of history, having leprosy was more than just a disease – it was the mark of the outcast. In the early years of the 20th century, one man used his privilege and his unstoppable, irascible force of personality to change the legal status and rights of patients with Hansen’s Disease in the United States.  

In the IRREGULAR: 

WORLD FAMOUS LEPER: John Early’s guerilla campaign on behalf of Hansen’s Disease patients | Christopher Reeves

HUMAN TASTES AND FEELINGS: A letter from John Early for the establishment of a national leprosarium

Dig deeper:

The Strange Case of John Early: A Study of the Stigma of Leprosy by Philip A. Kalisch

Care and Treatment of Persons Afflicted with Leprosy – Harvard Libraries

Timeline history of Leprosy – Tulane University

History of the National Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy) Program – Carville Hospital Timeline

On Stage:

Christopher Reeves ~ John Early, World Famous Leper | Odd Salon RESILIENT

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE’S DATA VISUALIZATIONS

Florence Nightingale made her name as a nurse at the Crimean front, but it was her skills as a data researcher and statistician that allowed her to effectively communicate and advocate for  health care changes. Her beautiful data visualizations are some of the earliest examples of their kind. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

NIGHTINGALE’S VISUALIZATIONS: Florence Nightingale’s passion for statistics

Dig deeper:

Florence Nightingale: The Lady with the Data – This is Statistics

Florence Nightingale (1820–1910): An Unexpected Master of Data – Noel-Ann Bradshaw

The Florence Nightingale Museum

Voice recording: Florence Nightingale’s speech in support of the Light Brigade Relief Fund – British Library

JOHN SNOW’S GHOST MAP & THE CHOLERA OUTBREAKS OF LONDON

In 1854, a deadly cholera outbreak hit central London. Seeking a source for the disease, Dr. John Snow mapped the cases, and was able to track the source down to a specific contaminated water pump, which he disabled. The map he created has become known as “The Ghost Map.”

In the IRREGULAR: 

MAPPING GHOSTS: John Snow’s epidemiological map in pursuit of the source of a cholera outbreak

Dig deeper:

Cholera in Victorian London – The London Science Museum

The Ghost Map: Hard Lessons in Epidemiology from Victorian London – BrainPickings

Broad Street Pump Outbreak – UCLA Department of Epidemiology

In Print:

The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic – and How it Changed Science, Cities and the Modern World, by Steven Johnson

On Stage: 

Frederic Lightning Leist ~ Dr. Snow in the Time of Cholera | Odd Salon EPIDEMIC

MARY MONTAGU & THE INTRODUCTION OF SMALLPOX INOCULATIONS

In 1717, Mary Montagu wrote home to England about a curious custom she had witnessed while staying abroad in Turkey: the intentional exposure of children to the deadly virus smallpox. Despite fear and pushback, Montague successfully introduced the concept of inoculation in England upon her return. 

In the IRREGULAR: 

MARY MONTAGU VS. SMALLPOX: An exotic cure brought home to London

Dig deeper:

Lady Montagu and the introduction of inoculation – Wellcome Library

Who was Lady Mary Wortley Montagu? – National Trust, UK

Smallpox inoculation had royal seal of approval 70 years before Jenner – Wellcome Library

THIS TOO SHALL PASS

One of the most enduring phrases that resurfaces during difficult times is “This too shall pass.” We’ve found it attributed to everyone from Victorian poets to Abraham Lincoln, but we’re pretty sure we’ve tracked down the source to the Sufi poet, Attar of Nishapore, who included the aphorism in his poetry.

In the IRREGULAR: 

THIS TOO SHALL PASS: In pursuit of the origins of a mythical inscription | Annetta Black

Dig deeper:

The Afterlife of Stories: Proverb and the Relationship between Form and Stance – Amy Shuman, via JSTOR

Biography of Attar of Nishapore – Encyclopedia Iranica

Works of Edward FitzGerald, 1887 – Internet Archive

Abraham Lincoln’s Address before the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society (in which he uses this phrase) – Abraham Lincoln Online

On Stage:

Annetta Black ~ The Phoenix and the Flame | Odd Salon RESILIENT