Historical advertisements, equipment, and advice for the treatment of colds, flu, and other illnesses. Got a question about treating an illness at a particular period? Send me an ask and I'll see what I can do!
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Time to start thinking about cold and flu season
(Robert W. Kelley. 1961)
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Kondon’s Catarrhal Jelly (This ran in American newspapers 100 years ago today on 1/3/1022)
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for reference 👀
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The Reunion - WW2 era fic
I’ve been listening to an audiobook about WWII in the UK and there’s been multiple mentions of people writing in their diaries about suffering from lengthy colds as well as a discussion of the increase in casual sex during the war (especially during air raids, when it became a welcome distraction). So, let’s just say I was inspired…!
Male, cold, OCs, contains 18+ content

The Reunion -
The club was positively bursting with young revellers and the sounds of a jazz band playing as couples moved across the dance floor in tight embraces, flitting in and out of shadow of the chandeliers sparkling overhead. Champagne flowed liberally, delivered by waiters in smart tuxedo jackets and white gloves. If a time-traveller had been magically transported inside, they would have no idea that outside the walls of the club there was a war on.
Making her way through the throngs of people was Katherine Marsh, or Kat to her close friends. Close at her heels was Mary Alderman, an old school chum who’d come up through London society with her. The girls wove through the dancers on route to a table up on the balcony that circled the dance floor, providing a spectacular view of the room below. Only the uppers of society generally occupied the tables here and the demand was such that often bribes had to be given to the head waiter to ensure a spot. Peter Halford, one of Kat’s other longtime friends, had been in charge of the evening’s transaction and now he waved cheerily from a spot in the corner as the girls approached.
“Hello, Peter!” Kat said joyfully as she sided into a chair along the wall, tucking the skirt of her silk gown around her. “Have you ordered a bottle yet or shall I do the honours?”
“It’s just coming now,” Peter replied, nodding towards the approaching waiter who carried a magnum size bottle in a silver ice bucket while another waiter followed behind deftly balancing a tray of champagne coupes.
“Your timing is impeccable as ever,” Mary said with a laugh. “I’m parched.”
Keep reading
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Sheet music of a song from 1863 about a man plagued with sneezing all his life.
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Life Magazine, January 8, 1957, p. 85
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Carbolic Smoke Ball Company, 1891
The following year, the company was sued over another ad in which they claimed they would pay £100 to anyone who used the product for 2 weeks and still came down with the flu.
Read about Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/business/8340276.stm
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1970s UK hospital nurse and patient.
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1948 ad for Listerine
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He’s sleeping now, sir. ❤︎
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“Sold for a Silk Rag,” in The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Monthly Journal, Vol 25 no 8, August 1891.
“Oh, confound this cold! Get me out some old soft silk handkerchiefs. I feel as if my head would burst!” he cried as soon as he could speak. Never had a man a worse or more weeping cold. Every now and again a fit of sneezing held him speechless in its grip.
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from “September Health Suggestions, by a Physician of Experience,” in The American Magazine, 1887.
“It is surprising how certainly a cold may be broken up by a timely dose of quinine. When first symptoms make their appearance, when a little languor, slight hoarseness and ominous tightening of nasal membranes follow exposure to drafts or sudden chill by wet, five grains of this useful alkaloid are sufficient in many cases to end the trouble. But it must be done promptly. If the golden moment passes, nothing suffices to stop the weary sneezing, handkerchief using, rednose and woe-begone looking periods that certainly follow.”
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St. Louis Medical and Surgical Journal, Volume 48, 1885
“Differential Diagnosis of the Various Stages of Puritic Rhinitis”
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Holmes, Watson and the ugly blanket ☕️✨
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