OHHURON-L Archives

Archiver > OHHURON > 1998-08 > 0902005547


From: Spevak <>
Subject: Re: [OHHURON-L] Influenza Epidemic of 1919
Date: Sat, 1 Aug 1998 17:05:47 -0400


Greenwich isn't that far.......I was there on memorial day to visit....and
as I walked through it I remembered many had 1919 as death date....including
many of my ancestors.....
As for how they handled death........I remember having read the book "The
Good Old Days: They were terrible" (something like that title anyway)--- and
it gave a great amount of info about how gruesome life was.....a chapter on
how the industrialization with the advent of machine and railroad also
brought horrible accidents....one chapter dealt with how rampant disease
was...and described that it took quite some time for people to figure out
sanitary practices of food storage, disease vectors, and medical
sterilization.....and to take all of that, and combine it with witnessing it
first hand......as well as the lifestyle of preparing food....most people
gave their farm animals first names, then they ended up on their dinner
plates....and my grandma, I remember, would have never been phased by the
thought of chopping off a chicken's head as part of the process of getting a
dinner ready.. while my mom cannot even stand to look a baked cornish hen
(because it even looks similar to what it would alive)......Death is very
isolated to us now.....First of all, it is covered up in our society.....Few
have ever been to a morgue.Few have seen it first hand.......you get to hear
statistics about death.....or become victim to the nightly news who portray
it in a theatrical way for ratings.....I think because it is so hidden, that
the videos of FACES OF DEATH...and the so-called reality shows like
RESCUE 911 have become so popular......grim, but seemingly true

the drewsta

This thread: