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Pandemics Through The Ages

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Letter from Gary Cocozzoli Director of the LTU Library

Letter from Gary

Articles On Pandemics through the ages, etc.

The Plague Doctor Costume: Example of Medieval Stupidity or Early Modern Smarts ~ Adrienne Aluzzo Recently due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve seen a number of stories and jokes about the odd-looking costume that plague doctors wore back in the day. These costumes have been described as medieval quackery designed to scare the virus out of your body and with the hooded mask and bird beak nose imagine how you might have felt when such a presence showed up at your hovel! The history of the costume, as with many things, is so much richer than the tale.

certainly didn’t have the beak-like face mask that gets so many laughs today. Modern people consider the outfit a sure sign of the stupidity and superstition of Medieval times.

Rationale behind the costume

At the time de Lorme developed the costume, it was widely accepted in the scientific community that diseases were caused by bad air or miasmata. It was believed that miasmata was caused by decaying organic matter and that improved hygiene It’s not Medieval and sanitation practices Deutches Historisches Museum 1650-1750 could mitigate it’s First of all, the doctor costume spread. We know now that this was not created until about theory is not correct but we can’t 1619 (by most standards, conblame them for what they concludsidered the early modern age) ed when they observed the crowdby a French physician named ed, filthy conditions that seemed to Charles de Lorme (1584-1678). breed disease. The idea behind the Earlier doctors probably did early plague suit is much the same have some type of covering beas the idea that created the hazmat fore de Lorme’s day but they suit currently used today and that

The Plague Doctor Costume: Example of Medieval Stupidity or Early Modern Smarts (continued) was to protect as much of the body from outside dangers.

The suit The plague doctor costume consisted of boots, leggings, an overcoat, gloves and the notorious hood complete with a beaklike nose piece, ½ a foot long and spectacles over the eyes.

The large leather coat was covered with a protective sealant like wax. It is said that the protective goggles were useful when applying leeches to suppurating sores. Doctors also carried a wooden cane or plague stick so that he wouldn’t have to get too close to the patient requiring treatment (early social distancing). The most frightening part of the costume, the long beak nose, was actually filled with a concoction of herbs, opium, desiccated snake, honey and ground mummies (up to 60 ingredients), commonly called, “Venetian Treacle.” These ingredients were thought to minimize the virulence of the disease. Not

for nothing but Charles de Lorme the inventor of the costume lived into his nineties! The suit was mainly worn by doctors in France and Italy and later the scary head piece and black floppy hat became popular costumes during the Venice Carnival.

Sources: Websites: Ancient Origins Tales of Times Forgotten Mental Floss National Geographic “The Plague Doctor of Venice,” from History in Medicine, by Christian J. Mussap, 2019.

Deutches Historisches Museum 1650-1750

Look at what we’re reading

The House of Impossible Beauties

by Joseph Cassara

This debut novel is about families. Not the ones that we are born into but rather those we create. The place is New York City the time is the 1980’s when the Drag Ball scene, portrayed so lavishly in the film “Paris Is Burning,” was taking off. I guess you could call the characters misfits. In the era of AIDS, when being

gay was not accepted, and the strict ideal of masculinity especially within the Latino culture could be a straightjacket to those who did not conform, this cast of characters help support each other.

There are many tragic characters in this story. The lifestyle they Author: Joseph Cassara lead is hardly a conservative one, with drugs and prostitution, beatings and even murder, but this is not a grim tale.

Rather it is boisterous, loud, funny, and sad all to a pounding disco beat! I highly recommend. ~ Adrienne Aluzzo

Zora and Langston: A Story of Friendship and Betrayal

by Yuval Taylor

Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes quickly became friends after their initial meeting.

Their friendship and collaboration eventually ended over artistic differences. The most interesting aspect of the book was the writers’ relationship with their patron, Charlotte Osgood Mason. Ms. Osgood insisted that those who received financial support from her, call her Godmother. While Godmother controlled both Langston and Zora’s literary lives, she financed their work differently. Langston was paid

to create, Zora was paid to collect information on black culture. The book is an interesting account of how two distinguished African Author: Yuval Taylor American writers supported their literary lives. ~ Sheila Gaddie

LIB INFO

Becoming Dr. Seuss

by Brian Jay Jones This book traces the life story of Theodor Seuss Geisel who was born in 1904 in Springfield Massachusetts. His father was a German immigrant who ran a successful brewery but was basically shut down by Prohibition.

He attended Dartmouth where he began his life as a cartoonist and humorist in student publication. Later, he went to Oxford for a doctorate but lost interest in school and never finished, but he did meet his wife Helen who would be a teacher shortly, and also his muse.

They settled in New York

and he began as an editorial cartoonist, adopting pseudonyms based on his “Seuss” middle name.

On the side, he was wildly successful as an ad man for Flit insecticide and for other companies. His first book, The 500

Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins, in 1938, sold

slowly but did garner good reviews. It was Bennett Cerf of Random House who provided great encouragement: Geisel continued creating other children’s books which were successful, but not blockbusters.

His biggest hit that cemented his fame forever was the Cat in the Hat in 1957, followed by The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. He also developed books with 100-word vocabularies for young readers, such as Green Eggs and Ham and Hop on Pop. He despised “Dick and Jane” books as having no merit and little to interest a child in

reading.

The Geisels settled in La Jolla California and during the war, he was inducted into the army in Los Angeles to create Army training films and he developed the cartoon character, Private Snafu, to demonstrate how NOT to do things. His unit was led Author: Brian Jay Jones by director Frank Capra, and he also worked with Chuck Jones who would be a part of his later life. It was Chuck who asked to animate The Grinch, in that “Warner Bros.” way. Several other animations followed, including Cat in the Hat, The Lorax and Horton Hears a Who. Dr. Seuss changed children’s reading habits forever, creating an experience that went beyond the plodding “bunny books” of the day, by encouraging the imaginations of young readers while delighting

the adults who read them too.

Despite being a heavy smoker all his life, and a drinker too, he lived until age 87.

The neighboring University of California San Diego named its library the Geisel Library. ~ Gary Cocozzoli

LIB INFO

Sarah’s Key

By Tatiana de Rosnay Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay is a powerful novel based on historic events that took place in July 16-17 of 1942 in Paris, France. I have made several trips to Paris over the years but had never heard this bit of history.

This book brought the fatal events of this time in the Paris during WWII deeply alive for me.

The historic setting for the book, takes place during the massive roundup of Jews living in Paris during 1942. The roundup took place in the wee morning hours when families were asleep and awakened to French gandarmes (police) invading their homes, and cor-

ralling all occupants, including children, to be taken to busses waiting for them to be taken away to what was to become the infamous, Vélodrome d’Hiver, a local sport stadium in the heart of the th 15 arrondissement of Paris.

The shock and horror these families experienced as thousands were driven from their homes and herded into this space, with no water, no food, no sanitary facilities and nothing but the floor to lay on must have been terrifying as they waited for 6 days not knowing what would happen next.

This book tells the story of one such family and the little girl named, Sarah and what she goes through first at the Vélodrome and then in the camp, Drancy outside of Paris, where her hair was shaved off, her

parent’s were separated from each other and then finally the parents sent away leaving Sarah on her own with a dark secret that she holds.

The story is told in two time lines, first the events of Sarah and her family in 1942 and then the re- Author: Tatiana de Rosnay porter telling the story of this horror laden event for a memorial to commemorate this sad part of French

history. The reporter gets totally immersed in Sarah’s story and comes to find that there is a connection with her family living in Paris in 2002. She comes to hear of the sad, and hauntingly dark secret that Sarah lived with during the days of WWII. This book will keep you on the edge of your seat and demand another page, another chapter until you hear the entire story.

Lib Info

~ Alice McHard

Into the Suffering City This marvelous, multifaceted murder mystery is replete with original, authentic, quirky, funny, vile, murderous, colorful characters making their way in the world as best they can. Each enduring their own special brand of suffering – Asperger’s, PTSD, misplaced love, unrequited love, deviant love, greed, rejection, rage, pride, prejudice, betrayal, injustice, and mental instability. Even fear of elevators. Yes, you read that correctly.

LeFurgy trashes conventional stereotypes with gusto. Don’t look for sweet, soft, weak women characters in this book. Dr. Sarah Kennecott is

an educated, resilient, determined woman with uncontrollable twitches who abhors metaphors and interprets all conversation literally, which proves quite humorous at times. She has to remind herself, “Do make eye contact…

Do control the tics. Do not offend the men. Stay out of trouble.” And you needn’t look

for strong, confident, heroic men either. You won’t find that kind of cardboard character in these pages. Jack Harden is a down on his luck private detective suffering sudden blackouts only to wake and discover he has committed a violent or an impetuous act that he can’t remember. Sarah is seen as an odd duck and Jack is seen as an alcoholic. Both are mislabeled and misunderstood, but not mismatched. They are a refreshing and original pair of sleuths.

In addition to Sarah’s compulsion to touch things, LeFurgy seamlessly weaves the sights, smells, sounds, and tastes of early 20th Century Baltimore

into the story saturating your senses.

The authenticity of this story, in large part, lies in the author’s expertise in historical events, people, medical practices, new inventions and innovations (such as fingerprint analysis) plus the vernacular of the day. You don’t hear the expression, “Flapdoodle” much these days. Sprinkled throughout are references such as the 1909 World Series between the Detroit Tigers with Ty Cobb are Pittsburgh with Honus Wagner (known as Krauthead), the looks of John Barrymore, the Bud Dajo massacre and the theories of a guy named Sigmund Freud. Some allusions had me making notes to learn more about these stories within a story.* There is a constant yin and yang between: upper class and lower class; educated and uneducated; kindness and cruelty; reality and perception; victims and victimizers; cops and criminals; old world and new

world that keeps this story taut and tense from beginning to end. Consequently, LeFurgy spins a fascinating, multidimensional tale that will entice and entertain you.

Write down the name Bill LeFurgy because after reading, “Into the Suffering City: A Novel of Baltimore” you are going to want to follow this author. LeFurgy has it all: historical knowledge, sense of humor, original plot, three dimensional characters, and, most importantly outstanding storytelling skills. I don’t know if he’s planning another book but if he is I want to be first in line to read it. ~ Sherry Tuffin *For example: The stories of murderesses Belle Gunnar, Jane Toppen

Off the Rack

by Sheila Gaddie

A regular column Exploring the free Magazine, articles & newspapers

by Gretchen Rudy

Regular column looking at books and art from a unique perspective— the “F” word.

Example: Most important word of 2020 = Facemask!

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