Fearful of the 1918 Spanish flu, gullible consumers sought magical remedies. One proclaimed, “When the body is exhausted and its resistive powers are diminished, Dr. Oddbody’s Cure All Elixir affords splendid and effectual means of offsetting the tendency toward weakness and protecting strength.” Alas, the elixir’s ingredients are not listed, but the product’s name says it all. Read more about the deadly Spanish flu pandemic a century ago in On the Shore (1917-1925), a tale of conflict between generations in a Lower East Side immigrant family (see NOVELS).
