LAUGHING OFF THE SPANISH 'FLU

Advertisement for Nicholas’s Aspro, claiming to cure the Spanish influenza. Herald, 29 January 1919

Listen to the recollections of Australia’s experience of the Spanish ‘Flu in 1919. In these excerpts from the National Library of Australia Oral History and Folklore collections, Mrs Helen Hohnberg, Sid Briggs and Rocky Wedd tell us what it was like back then. It turns out that the responses and the problems were not so different to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.

https://yarnsofoz.podbean.com/?p=14295751&token=323a72de8f8aa4a9ec17175104d2aaa9

Graham Seal and Rob Willis, together with Dennis McKay and Maureen Seal  - and John Meredith - meander through a bracing concoction of memories, snake oil, home remedies, awful verse and the humour that helped Australians weather the pneumonic influenza outbreak a century ago.

FOLK AT THE NATIONAL LIBRARY

Explore National Folk Festivals and the National Library's folklore collections online

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Bring all things folk to your living room and explore the folklore collections at the National Library of Australia. You can also relive the excitement of previous National Folk Festivals and associated events by listening to all the recorded proceedings held by the National Library of Australia.

REIGNING THEM IN - WOMEN AND THE COACHING INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA

Chinese passengers inside and on top of coach, Castlemaine 1853.

Rachael Anderson has researched a little-known aspect of Australian history - the role of women in the stagecoach industry. Cobb & Co were one of many coaching companies vying for colonial business and women played a vital role in keeping the wheels turning.

Read all about it in our ‘Articles’ section - just click on the tab at the top of the page.