It's the dead of summer here in the South and we've entered into July which can be known as a time down here when the spirits of the night come alive. While there's a lot of vampire, witch and ghost lore down here for a lot of reasons, some of it is due to the annual yellow fever epidemics that occurred every summer beginning in July.

For nearly 100 years, each summer would claim about 10% of the population for the dead.

It became known as "The City of the Dead" as every summer the mosquitos, in high numbers from the surrounding swamp and wooden cisterns (sea levels are too high - you couldn’t dig a well) around the Quarter, served as a breeding ground. While today mosquitos are mostly an annoying pest here in the modern world they were an unknown harbinger of illness for decades.

By the summer of 1853, nearly 8,000 people died so the city took action to stop the epidemic by…burning tar and fire canons to “shake the disease from the air.”

By 1905 it became evident that water was the source and more effective measures were taken. Mosquitoes are still a nuisance but at least they won’t kill you.

I was definitely bit multiple times wearing this outfit in the shop while I took these photos 😅