Fox Lake Historical Society, March 19, 2022: Puppet Bar Ghosts?

Fox Lake/Grant Township Historical Society, Fox Lake, Illinois.

Working on the website and information being updated.

There used to be 56 or 57 bars in Fox Lake.  It was, after all, a resort town.

**  The society has more Grant Township yearbooks than it needs and will sale extra copies to persons contacting us.  I think the price would be $20.

**  Of course, these last two years have been very difficult in both membership and finances.

**  A paranormal guy came by and said the Eagle Point puppets had a lot of energy emanating from them.

**  They're looking for docents to come in and  watch the place and help visitors on every other Sunday afternoon, but, I'm wondering, what if you're sitting there by yourself with "ghosts" around.  

**  There used to be a bowling alley next door to the museum and it had eight lanes and there used to be a gas station on the other side of it.

--Cooter

Name That Movie Quote

Sure looking forward to getting back into the old movie theater this summer.  I haven't been in one since February 2020.  And, I usually see between 50 and 75 movies a year.

Anyway. the May 16, 2021, Parade magazine had an article on "50 Years of Movies We Love."

And, a quote from each movie.

See if you can identify the movie from the quote:

**  "Go ahead and make my day."  (1983)

**  "Whoever said orange is the new pink was seriously disturbed."  (2001)

**  "Why did it have to be snakes?  I hate snakes."   (1981)

**  "I do wish we could chat longer, but ... I'm having an old friend for dinner."   (1991)

**  "You're a wizard, Harry."  (2001)

Answer in the next post.   Maybe.

Get Guessin'.  --Cooter

Survived Two Pandemics a Century Apart: Anna & Helen

From March 23, 2021, ListVerse "Top 10 Luckiest Unlucky  People Whose Luck Nearly Killed Them" by Jonathan H. Kantor,

 As we all know now, surviving a pandemic is no walk in the park.  Well, how about surviving two of them, a century apart?  Getting infected can be deadly.  It certainly was with the influenza strain A/H1N1 that devastated the world between 1918 and 1920.

The Spanish flu killed  some 20-100 million people, thanks to the fast spread and speed  at which the virus killed infected people.

Two people who were infected back then and managed to survive that first pandemic were Anna del Priorie and her sister Helen, who were young children in that first one.  

While they weren't the only ones to survive that one,  they are among a small group to survive both of them.  Anna and Helen  were 105 & 107 years old respectively when they were infected by COVID-19.  Despite their advanced age the second time they both managed to beat the odds and survive a second time.

--Cooter

Pandemic Won't Slow Down Uecker

From the July 24, 2020, Chicago Tribune by Steve Megargee, AP.

Last season was Bob Uecker's 50th in the Brewer's broadcast booth.

And, he was facing his biggest challenge during that time, the pandemic.  He broadcast the 2020 season's games at Miller Field, home of the Brewers and that included the road games which he watched on a monitor.

The 86-year-old announcer came back for his 50th season and 65th in baseball overall, including a six-year playing career with the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies from 1962 to 1967.  (Totals:   Batting average:  .200, 14 home runs, 74 RBI.  Not exactly what you'd call amazing.)

But, he made fun of this.  And, then there were those great commercials.  Ever since April 2014, there has been a statue of Bob Uecker in the back row of Miller Field's nosebleed seats  in homage to his 1980s Lite Beer  commercial where he arrived at the park and says, "I must be in the front row."

Of course, I always enjoy it when he is at Wrigley Field and they have him do the 7th inning stretch "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and he always, I mean always yells "And it's root, root, root for the Brewers."  Looks like the Cub front office would be aware of that bit of sacrilege.

--CootUeck

The Spanish Flu of 1918-- Part 8: Boy, Those 'Cures'?

People tried all sorts of remedies, many of which were advertised in local newspapers and today sound atrocious as medical cures.

Menthoeze, for example, was widely sold in town and consisted of goosefat mixed with turpentine for an inhalation treatment.  Quinine tablets along with an elixir derived from opium were highly recommended for fever and pain.

A children's concoction called California Syrup of Fig was sold by local pharmacies.  Made up almost entirely of fig syrup, it also contained 25 percent Senna, an herbal laxative, as well as 6 percent alcohol.

It's a miracle that residents survived the treatments!  But the point is, they did survive and despite large numbers of lives lost, Belvidere and Boone County (Illinois) eventually conquered the virus, not through horrific syrups, but through isolation, quarantine and protection.

By October 25, 1918, cases were down to three per day with very few deaths and Belvidere Mayor W.W. Ray petitioned the State Board of Health to have restrictions eased after weeks of closure and isolation.

So, it may seem like 2020 was the worst year ever, but we have come through bad times before.

--DaCoot

The Spanish Flu 1918-- Part 6: No Spitting Allowed Here

Continued from February 6, 2021.

Well, I got tied up with some mighty interesting stories about Blacks for Black History Month.  Lots of stuff I didn't know.  I like anything dealing with history and sadly, didn't know much about the people I was writing about in February.

But since you-know-what is still with us, I will start this up again.

In Belvidere, Illinois, schools, churches and theaters were closed as the pandemic unfolded before even the state banned attendance at any public gathering effective October 18, 1918.

Once the ban took effect, funerals, weddings, lodge meetings, government meetings/councils and hospital visits were not allowed.  Also the state mandated masks for anyone in contact with the public outside of their own families.

Belvidere took even a further step by banning bonfires and any sort of outdoor burning in town to ease the suffering of the sick.  Anyone who coughed or sneezed in a Belvidere public establishment was ejected.  Spitting in public was outlawed and spitters were arrested.

--Cooter

The Spanish Flu Outbreak of 1918-- Part 2: Lots of Similarities 1918 and 2020

My grandparents lived through it, but my parents did not as Dad was born in 1928 and Mom in 1930.

Most cases of the virus made their appearance within three to four days.  Common symptoms included fever, cough, sneezing, headache, body ache and bloodshot eyes. However, many cases developed into bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and severe ear infection that struck suddenly and spread to the brain.

One day a person could feel perfectly fine and the next could be severely ill.  Many deaths were actually attributed to the secondary infections that could not be fought with weakened immune systems.  (Sounds a bit familiar.)

With limited antibiotics and no vaccines, United States hospitals and morgues filled up quickly and to overflowing.

--Cooter

The Spanish Flu Outbreak of 1918-- Part 1: Why It Was Called the Spanish Flu

From the Dec. 31, 2020, Rock Valley Publishing  "Bizarre Belvidere" by Mindy Long.

Of even more interest in these days of our own virus.  Comparisons can definitely be made between the two, some 100 years apart.

The Spanish Flu of 1918 and several years afterwards, was an H1N1 virus that primarily affected children younger than 5 and younger adults ages 20-40 and older adults over 65.  The CDC estimates that one third of the world's population became infected and more than 50 million people worldwide died of it.

The Spanish Flu did not actually originate in Spain, but that country was one of the few world countries not affected by the World War I news blackout so cases there became front page news, especially after Spain's Kong Alfonso XIII died from it.  The flu became known as the Spanish Flu then.

The virus then was spread through the air in mucous droplets from coughing, sneezing, talking loudly, laughing and spitting, much like today's coronavirus.

--Cooter

And the Coronavirus Comes to McHenry County-- Part 6: We Get One Every 30-40 Years

A 2007 article for the National Institute of Health stated:  "Influenza pandemics have occurred regularly every 30 to 40 years since the 16th century.  Today, influenza experts consider the possibility of another influenza pandemic, not in terms of if but when."

Should we have seen the COVID-19, or its likeness, coming?  Unquestionably.

Kurt Begalka wrote in a column two years ago:  "Unlike 1918, when a flu pandemic swept across the globe, infecting a half billion people and leaving an estimated 20 million to 50 million victims in its wake, doctors know the microscopic killer is not a type of bacteria, and they know how to curtail its spread -- provided that experts divine the right preventive cocktail before next flu season.

Stay safe out there folks and do your best to use this new-found time productively.

It Was Predicted.  Now It's Here.  --Cooter

And, the Coronavirus Cometh to McHenry County in 2020-- Part 5: It's the Weather Channel Thing All Over Again

I myself was wondering whether or not we'd get hit with one of those pandemics of the past, but figured our medicine would be able to handle it now that we are in the 21st century.  I was wrong.  Perhaps, too much concentration on diabetes, cancer and the like.  But, as bad as those diseases are, something that hits and kills in the numbers of a virus is really scary.

Back to the article:

"So here we are, working from home and isolated -- for our own good-- from family and friends.  But rather than grouse about our lot, I'd save your recriminations for government officials who failed to stockpile adequate medical supplies and hospital beds for a time health experts long predicted could strike at a moment's notice."

Personally, I was operating under the Weather Channel Fix.  Anytime there is anything out on the oceans even remotely looking like a storm, they go overboard with dire warnings of possible catastrophe.  We've had Ebola and other possible pandemics pop up then go away along with dire warnings from health experts.  So, I just figured it was more of the same.

I heard about this new one in China, but was absolutely not concerned.

Reckon I Should Have Been.  --Cooter

The Spanish Flu Comes to McHenry County in 1918-- Part 2: Avoid Those Coughs and Sneezes

To combat this growing threat, the U.S. Public Health Service issued a bulletin in September 1918 outlining precautionary steps and what to do if you or a loved one became infected.

"So far as a disease like influenza is concerned health authorities everywhere recognize the very close relation between its spread and overcrowded homes.  ...The value of fresh air through open windows cannot be overemphasized.

"Where crowding is unavoidable, as in street cars, care should be taken to keep the face turned as not to inhale directly the air breathed out by another person.  It is especially important to  be aware of the person who coughs are sneezes without covering his mouth or nose.

"It also follows that one should keep out of crowds and stuffy places as much as possible, keep homes, offices, and workshops well aired, spend some time out of doors each day, walk to work if at all practicable -- in short make every possible effort to breathe  as much pure air as possible."

Sounds Somewhat Familiar, Doesn't It?  --Cooter

The Spanish Flu Comes to McHenry County, Illinois, in 1918-- Part 1: All That and WW I and TB Too

From the April 15, 2020, Northwest Herald "Learning from our pandemic past" by  Kurt Begalka.

"During these unprecedented times (Okay everyone, take a sip of the bubbly as every time we have a word put together with the "time" to describe these days, you get to take a drink) it is worth remembering that the world went through something just as deadly (much more deadly) in 1918 -- perhaps even more so considering the double whammy of World War I-related injuries and prevalence of tuberculosis.

"The September 26, 1918, edition of the Woodstock (Illinois) Sentinel noted: 'The Spanish influenza is said to be beginning a visit to this country.  Most things Spanish are not to be sneezed at, but the influenza is an exception."

Soon after, the newspapers were full of reports of illness and death in every corner of McHenry County -- alongside ads for "miraculous" cures such as  'Knock-A-Cold."

--Cooter

1918 Influenza in Butler Co., Pa.,-- Part 6: A "Forgotten Epidemic?"

The epidemic faded from public memory almost as quickly as the disease itself vanished.  The deaths of servicemen in the Great War received far more attention than the deaths caused by the influenza.

Furthermore, on November 11, 1918, the Great War, known now as World War I in the U.S. and the First World War in Britain (hey they wouldn't have known about the second one back then) which overshadowed the influenza outbreak in western Pennsylvania (well, it was also in Chicago and in much of the rest of the United States in October that year).

This was kind of like the Civil War's Sultana Disaster which took place April 27, 1865, when the steamboat Sultana blew up while carrying several thousand recently released Union prisoners.  It is regarded as the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history with at least 1,168 deaths. But it was soon forgotten what with the end of the Civil War, Lincoln Assassination and the killing of John Wilkes Booth all occurring around the same time.

The Influenza epidemic of 1918 became "The Forgotten Epidemic" until various other outbreaks in more recent history brought back the memories.

I'm not so sure it was all that forgotten, but definitely this new coronavirus we're involved with these days has brought back the memory.  I was completely unaware of how hard western Pennsylvania was hit, though, until I came across the information about the immigrant cemetery in Butler County which started this thread.

And, there is still one more entry to go.

--Cooter

A 100-Year-Old WW II Veteran Philip Kahn Dies of COVID-19, His Twin Brother Died in the 1919 Influenza Pandemic

From the April 23, 2020, CNN  by Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, CNN.

Philip Kahn, 100, died April 17 of the COVID-19 flu.    He lost a twin brother in the 1918 epidemic a century earlier.He was the oldest WW II veteran in Nassau County, New York, and had been fearful of another pandemic striking during his lifetime.

His grandson Warren Zysman said:  "It was something he brought up quite frequently.  I would have conversations with him, he would say to me, 'I told you history repeats itself, 100 years is not that long of a period of time.' "

Kahn and his twin bother , Samuel, were born on December 5, 1919.  His brother died weeks later

The 1918 influenza pandemic , also called the Spanish Flu, killed an estimated 50 million people globally and 675,000 in the United States.  As of April 22, there were over 46,000 deaths in the United States and an estimated 19,000 in New York alone.

Mr. Kahn was a sergeant in the U.S. Army Air Force  during the war and acted as an engineer and co-pilot and received two Bronze Battle Stars.

After the war, he worked as an electric foreman and helped build the World Trade Center.

Before becoming ill, he lived on his own in Long Island and walked two miles a day.  he was aware of the coronavirus as he watched the news every day and in the last few days before his death, he started having the symptoms.  He took a test for it, but the results were not given until after his death.

Luigi Pierpaoli. Andrea Doria Survivor Dies of Coranavirus-- Part 2

Mr. Pierpaoli was jolted awake by the sound of the crash.  It was dark, and he was wearing just his undergarments, but was able to scramble out of bed to help other passengers  get into the lifeboats.

The wreck was 45 miles south of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts and is considered one of our nation's most dramatic maritime events since the sinking of the Titanic in 1912.

His older brother, Rino, was waiting for him when a rescue ship brought him to the harbor.  All his luggage was lost.

Meanwhile, back in Italy, his wife didn't know what had happened to him and lived through some terrifying time before finding out he was alright.  Fortunately, the Andrea Doria was near port when it happened.  Had it been further out to sea it could have been much worse.

Luigi sent for his wife and two young children in May 1958.  They arrived by ship at New York and took a train to Chicago.

Lived In Two Historic Events.

Luigi Pierpaoli, 1956 Andrea Doria Disaster Survivor, Dies from COVID-19-- Part 1

From the April 24, 2020, Chicago Tribune "Remembering the lives of those in Illinois who died from coronavirus."

The Tribune is running a full page featuring these most deaths every day now.  It honors them and others who have died.

LUIGI PIERPAOLI, 96

Died April 6 of complications of the virus.

Survived one of the nation's most famous maritime disasters as passenger on the doomed Italian ocean liner Andrea Doria in 1956.  Afterwards, he rarely spoke of it.  His son, Maurizio said, "You had to pry it out of him.  He never went on a large boat again and has been scared of water ever since."

In 1956, he followed his older brother and came to the United States leaving his family behind until he could get established.  He booked passage on the ill-fated Andrea Doria in the summer of 1956.  As it approached New York, it collided with the passenger ship Stockholm and sank with 51 casualties between the two ships.

(The Stockholm is still afloat and taking on passengers, although this is supposed to be the last year of its operation.)

--Cooter

Pandemics in Chicago-- Part 2: Graceland Cemetery, Lincoln Park Cemtery and Cholera

Adam Selzer is a local historian who earns a living taking people on small tours/walks around Chicago pointing.  Obviously, right now, die to the "V" those are not underway.  You can go to his Mysterious Chicago Facebook page to take one of his tours ala virtual.

Strangely, he was working on a new presentation "Health Scares Through History" tour through Graceland Cemetery in Chicago when all this "V" hit.

Graceland Cemetery opened in 1860, but you will find gravestones that predate that as many graves were relocated here from smaller cemeteries, family cemeteries and the city cemetery that used to be at Lincoln Park.  This one was closed because people were afraid the bodies buried there were affecting the drinking water.  (They didn't realize it, but these decaying bodies were causing the deadly cholera.

Cholera was major killer throughout the 19th century in Chicago and around the world.

--Cooter

The Spanish Flu Hits Illinois in 1918-- Part 2: Horror Stories from Great Lakes Naval Hospital

Chicago ran out of hearses.  Signs were posted banning public funerals, and limiting funerals to no more than ten attendees, in addition to the pastor, undertaker and necessary drivers.  No bodies were allowed in churches.

A U.S. Public Health Service Officer named Jo Cobb working at the city's Marine Hospital wrote a friend,  "Our beds were filled as fast as emptied."

Navy nurse Josie Brown, who served at the Naval Hospital at Great Lakes (in nearby North Chicago) wrote:  "The morgues were packed almost to the ceiling with bodies stacked one on top of another.  The morticians worked day and night.  You could never turn around  without seeing a big red truck loaded with caskets for the train station so bodies could be sent home.

"We didn't have the time to treat them.  We didn't take temperatures;  we didn't even have time to take blood pressure.  We would give them a little hot whisky toddy; that's all we had time to do.  They would have terrific nose bleeds with it.  Sometimes the blood would just shoot across the room.  You had to get out of the way or someone's nose would bleed all over you."

When it comes to pandemics, there is no rational basis to believe that the early years of the 21st century will be different from the past.    If a pandemic strikes, it will come to Illinois.

As of April 13, 2020, the cases and deaths in Illinois due to the coronavirus are 22,025 cases and 794 deaths.

--Cooter

The Spanish Flu Hits Delaware in 1918-- Part 2: A Family's Tragedy

The order remained in effect for more than three weeks.  Yet, even with these precautions, it did not stop the virus.

As the situation in Delaware worsened,  the state became so overwhelmed that the Health Department tried to divert influenza patients to Philadelphia hospitals.  The flu, however, knew no state borders.  Philadelphia was unable to come to Delaware's rescue, as they too were completely overwhelmed by the disease.

Nearby, at Memorial Hospital in New Jersey, Mr. John Kingsman, 36, died on Monday afternoon.  Days earlier, his 17-year-old daughter died in the same spot, though he never knew it.    Those who were taking care of him couldn't bring  themselves to tell him that.  Making it worse, just a week after his mother and step-brother had died in Dover, his teen-aged daughter was also dead.

"When it comes to pandemics, there is no rational  basis to believe that the 21st century will be much different from the past.  If a pandemic strikes, it will come to Delaware."

Coronavirus cases and deaths in Delaware as of April 13, 2020: 1,761 cases and 41 deaths.

--Cooter

About That Last Really Bad Pandemic: The Spanish Flu 1918-1920

From Wikipedia.

Between 1918 and 1920, the world had the really bad Spanish Flu pandemic, in which an estimated 500 million people (about one fourth of the population at the time) were infected and anywhere between 17 to 50 million people died.

This made it the worst pandemic of all time other than Black Death.

Hopefully, all the measures being taken across the United States and the world will stop the current one from being as bad.

I have written a lot about the Spanish Flu pandemic in this blog.  When I did, I never expected that I would be living through one, but here we are.

Two of my favorite performers have died from the "V":  Joe Diffie and John Prine.

You can read about my previous posts on Spanish Flu by hitting the Spanish Flu or 1918 Flu Epidemic labels below this.  Some of that seems real familiar.

Strange Days Indeed.  --Cooter