Echoes Of Pandemics Past (Pittsburg Press December 3, 1918)

For your Friday, my friends, an aside.

From the pages of the Pittsburg Press (remember The Press? Remember when "Pittsburg" went without the "H"?) and dated December 3, 1918:

Now, you'd think that it was a more or less straightforward news article about the effects of the so-called "Spanish Flu" of that year, right?

The headline reads:

INFLUENZA MORE DEADLY THAN WAR

With subheadlines (?) reading:

Census Bureau Says Epidemic Caused 82,306 Deaths in One Month

And:

Disease Quite Likely To Return

Challenging times. Challenging times. The flu was deadly bad and is likely to return, the article warns.

But look closer at the second paragraph:

The text:

If you catch cold don't take chances by neglecting it because it is more than likely to develop into grip or pneumonia. Begin at once taking Father John's Medicine which has had over sixty years of success for colds and in the building [of new] strength to resist disease.

Wait, what?? What's "Father John's Medicine"? 

This:

...a tonic that was a non-alcoholic mixture containing cod-liver oil (a source of vitamins A and D) and having a licorice flavor. Indeed, it actually contained licorice root, regarded by herbalists as “a powerful anti-inflammatory” for self-treating coughs and bronchitis. “It is among the most used herbs in European medicine and has been taken medicinally for several thousand years” (Chevallier 1996, 99). Father John’s Medicine also contained gum Arabic, glycerin, sugar, and “flavoring oils” (“True Story” 1995).

So what looks like a real news article in The Pittsburg Press is actually an advertisement for some patent medicine.

Any doubts about this? Take a look at what was found on page 4 of the Norwich Bulletin, December 3 1918:

Have a happy Friday!