Comment

Comment by Willy on April 6, 2020 at 12:23am

“How Cuba’s Greatest Cartoonist Fled From Castro And Created ‘Spy V...

Comment by XLFD on April 5, 2020 at 9:42pm

As a longtime fan of Mad Magazine, though not as fanatic as Dave whose LT avatar is an Obamaesque Alfred E Newman, I can't help noticing the close resemblance between the black spy and the traditional plague doctor.  I bet you that plague doctor costumes will be making quite a comeback this Halloween, however that is celebrated. 

Comment by Willy on April 5, 2020 at 7:44pm

Plague Doctor Costume – Clothing Worn by Plague Doctors

Plague Doctor Costume

If you have already read the Black Death story, you will know that the doctors responsible for treating the plague patients wore specially designed suits. There has been much talk about these costumes on the internet and we want to clarify some points:

Why a plague doctor’s costume?

The Black Death pandemic was spreading rapidly in all corners of all European countries. Nothing and no one could stop the Yersinia pestis, and they did not know how it could expand so quickly. One of the most popular theories at the time was the miasma theory, based on the idea that the Black Death was transmitted by air, known as “Bad Air” or “Night Air”, and through physical contact.

The sick people fell in the streets, and no one helped them because of the fear of being infected. It was then that the doctors decided to take action, developing a totally hermetic costume to avoid the contagion and be able to help the sick people. The invention of this costume is attributed to Charles de L’Orme, who, allegedly, was the first to wear this custome in 1619 in Paris, and later his idea spread throughout the rest of Europe.

This hermetic suit prevented the physical contact thanks to gloves and a cane; and filtered the Bad Air thanks to air purifying herbs located near the nose and the mouth.

It was many years later when it was discovered that the Black Death was not transmitted by air or physical contact, but through the bites of fleas and rats (Germ theory of disease). Although the plague doctor’s costume was designed to prevent Bad Air, they actually also managed to avoid flea bites, so this worked well.