High Fashion

29/09/1855

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Miss Brown had much pleasure announcing to the 'Ladies of Peterborough and Neighbourhood' that she had returned from London with 'all the latest Novelties from Paris, in Embroidery, Collarets, Sleeves, Bugle and other Head-dresses with the Eugenie Falls and Barbes', promising that 'the new Selection will be arranged for inspection on Tuesday 2nd October, and during the forthcoming Fair'. (Peterborough Advertiser)

Taken from The Peterborough Book of Days by Brian Jones, The History Press, 2014.

World War I , Infection

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Influenza Pandemic

1918

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The 1918 influenza pandemic also known as Spanish flu, was a deadly influenza pandemic caused by the H1N1 influenza virus. It infected 500 million people around the world killing 50 million but possibly as many as 100 million people. It was one of the deadliest epidemics in human history. Where it originated is unclear but it certainly spread to Britain from France with returning soldiers, with Peterborough suffering as much as the rest of the country.

The name Spanish flu arose because Spain, being neutral in the First World War, did not censor the news to maintain wartime morale, so the epidemic’s effects were freely reported, falsely making it appear that Spain was particularly hard hit.

This particular pandemic had a very high mortality rate because of several factors including malnutrition due to the war, overcrowding in hospitals, lack of hygiene and the movement of troops all around the world. The pandemic also came in 2 waves, the first in the spring of 1918 producing a more usual ‘Three Day Fever’ followed by recovery except in the very vulnerable, the very old and very young, but the second wave, peaking in October 1918, was more virulent and targeted particularly young adults; nearly half of all deaths were people aged between twenty and forty years.

By the summer of 1919, the flu pandemic came to an end, as those that were infected either died or developed immunity.

References:

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed The World, Spinney, Laura. Vintage 2017

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_flu

Images(in the Public Domain)

A chart of deaths in major cities, showing a peak in October and November 1918

World War I , Infection

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High Fashion

29/09/1855

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Influenza Pandemic

1918

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