In 1918, advanced masks like the N95s that healthcare workers use today were a long way off. This is what they looked like back then. Despite the flu, Americans tried to continue their love lives, from looking their best to courting, kissing and, eventually, marriage. The Japanese government recommended that all sick people wear masks to protect others, while they suggested that healthy people could wear them as a preventative measure. Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, Primary Sources: Wiley Digital Archives of Academic Societies, Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License. Men on the front and would-be soldiers were also affected. The same fine today would be equivalent to more than 85 dollars. His newest book, a biography of Casey Luna, was published in the spring of 2021. The mask is designed only to afford protection against a direct spray from the mouth of the carrier of pathogenic microorganisms Masks of improper design, made of wide-mesh gauze, which rest against the mouth and nose, become wet with saliva, soiled with the fingers, and are changed infrequently, may lead to infection rather than prevent it, especially when worn by persons who have not even a rudimentary knowledge of the modes of transmission of the causative agents of communicable diseases.. After San Francisco made masks mandatory in public, an awareness campaign began. The city health officer wasnt in the photo, but admitted to being present and that it was possible that he may have lowered or raised my mask to take a puff at a cigar.. Who is correct in this ongoing debate over wearing masks? We have some idea of conditions in at least one jail from the experience of a 16 year old who was arrested for failing to put on a mask as he left a barber shop. The second wave, however, had symptoms that were actually very similar to COVID-19. In October 1918, the Seattle Daily Times carried the headline Influenza Veils Set New Fashion: Seattle Women Wearing Fine Mesh With Chiffon Border to Ward Off Malady. These fashionable masks and others made from dubious material probably werent helping much. Today we can look back and see that they flattened the curve and the communities that did enforce much stricter regulations and for a longer period of time and began earlier had lower death rates, Bristow says. As one Red Cross PSA put it, the man or woman or child who will not wear a mask now is a dangerous slacker. This sense of wartime dutyand the fear of being seen as a slackermay have motivated those who complied with mask orders in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Denver and Phoenix.

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concerning the pandemic and its impact in the United States. Qubec passed legislation that forbade people from receiving certain government services if their face was covered, Quebec's niqab ban uses women's bodies to bolster right-wing extremism, made face coverings mandatory at the beginning of July, were forbidden from wearing masks to protect themselves against air pollution in the subway system, instructed its workers not to wear masks during the 2003 SARS epidemic in Toronto, beaked masks that doctors wore during the 17th-century plague epidemic, an emblem of public spiritedness and discipline, masks were widely unpopular and that even in places with mandatory masking orders in place, people often failed to wear them or just pulled them on when police appeared, the province ordered everyone to wear a mask outside of their homes, to be removed only in the case of eating, as allergy to cedar pollen became a growing problem, wearing masks in Japan has become a form of politeness, there was intense fear of germ warfare, leading many to wear masks, urged its citizens to protect themselves against pollution by wearing masks, Etsy crafters and Old Navy began producing fashionable masks for the North American market, consumers could purchase masks with Hello Kitty and other cartoon characters, as well American flag masks meant to show the wearers support for democracy, Western media outlets featured Asians wearing masks as a harbinger of the epidemic, Unmasking the racial politics of the coronavirus pandemic, he reportedly assaulted staff at a grocery store who insisted he wear a mask, masks are uncomfortable, unnecessary, harmful to their own health or ineffective, visual representation of the threat of COVID-19 and make people feel more fearful; an optimism bias can make people reluctant to wear masks because they think that the novel coronavirus will not affect them, Kit de communication pour les institution membres. Asians wearing masks have been verbally and physically attacked. Then the swine flu hit in Europe and the soldiers there from the United states in 1918 began to contract it. Cartoonist Clifford T. Berryman highlighted this in an illustration of a sneezing little boy and an older man who stood in for The Public. Looking at the little boy, the man said: Use the handkerchief and do your bit to protect me..

Newspapers printed instructions how to make your own masks at home. An experienced physician in Los Angeles ran an ad that suggested that clever women might exploit the moment to beautify themselves by undergoing single- or double-face lifts during the health crisis. A writer in Arizona made similarly disparaging remarks about men, saying, We know some fellows whose faces would be improved by any kind of mask. At least men could take a vacation from shaving for the duration of the crisis. He has written many books and articles about New Mexico history, including many works on Valencia County, his favorite topic. Police officers in New York Citys 10,000-man force were ordered to wear their masks not only when they were on duty, but also when they slept in dormitories at their police stations. One of the most alarming aspects of the 1918 flu was its penchant for targeting previously healthy young adults. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. The Riley, its advertisement said, had been disinfected. One announcement featuring a large picture of a masked woman urged, with unusual phrasing, Do not take any persons breath. In Cincinnati, a board of health sign posted on streetcars told everyone to Keep Your Bedroom Windows Open! Like many other PSAs, the sign emphasized that precautions against the flu could also prevent the spread of other deadly infectious diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis. A witness noted the wearing of flu masks rendered the old-fashioned practice of kissing the bride out of the question as everyone in the matrimonial party, including Fr. The coronavirus might be about to change that. Home production was the answer. Required fields are marked *. The author wishes to thank Dr. Rick Madden for kindly lending his medical expertise in the writing of this column. WebThe 1918 flu pandemic virus kills an estimated 195,000 Americans during October alone. He has served on the board of directors of the Valencia County Historical Society for 30 years; he has served as the societys president several times. Health and city officials got the word out about these guidelines in all kinds of ways. The wearing of face masks in public became mandatory on US soil for the first time. formId: "4952e145-18a8-4185-b1de-03f7b39bda22", I was recently asked this question for an articlethat just appeared in the Smithsonian Magazine. At L.H. The claim: Photo shows person with sign reading 'Wear a Mask or Go To Jail' amid 1918 Spanish flu. A newspaper boy in 1918 Seattle wears a mask in front of a closed theater. The newspaper cited the successes of face masks on one ship. Masks for protection against influenza. But what did all of this mean? In 1918, writes E. Thomas Ewing at Health Affairs, US public health authorities recommended masks for doctors, nurses, and anyone taking care of influenza patients.. Although the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918 is not the same as the virus we now face, there are significant similarities in their spread and degree of contagiousness. One of the most commonly promoted pieces of advice was to wear a mask. 2023 Cable News Network. According to the one Cincinnati doctor, Army doctors have found the gauze face mask very useful in preventing infection.. A more pessimistic appraisal of masks came in a study published in 1921 by physician William T. Vaughan: One difficulty in the use of the face mask is the failure of cooperation on the part of the public. Although the United States and the other nations at war initially suppressed news of the flu (neutral Spain freely reported it, hence the misnomer Spanish flu), there was a sense that following these new health precautions was patriotic. This San Francisco law eventually led to the creation of the Anti-Mask League, a group of angry business owners and citizens uncomfortable with the city ordinances. In Oakland, Calif., the city ordinance requiring the wearing of masks was enforced so strictly that 488 men and women were arrested and sent to the local jail on a single day. They are both airborne diseases that thrive among people in close quarters and in range of those who cough, sneeze or even engage in casual conversation. During the 1918 flu pandemic, scientific research around mask use was still largely anecdotal and the compelling story of one ocean liner caught peoples attention. While inspired by growing evidence that masks can reduce the spread of COVID-19, this seems deeply ironic in a province so opposed to face coverings that Qubec passed legislation that forbade people from receiving certain government services if their face was covered. Many towns and cities attached stiff punishments to their ordinances, including jail sentences and fines, usually $5 (worth $93 today). Sad. Americans were reminded to wear masks in public service announcements that appeared in the press and with warning signs, like one that read, Wear a Mask or Go to Jail.. The COVID-19 pandemic is not the first time people have been required to wear face masks for protection. He was released on bail, although similar scofflaws in San Francisco had been sentenced to up to 10 days in jail. Messenger boys in Missoula, Mont., made sure they wore masks when they delivered telegrams to homes afflicted with the disease. Masks for protection against influenza. Anyone found outdoors without a mask could be fined or even imprisoned. Richard Melzer, Ph.D., is a retired history professor who taught at The University of New MexicoValencia campus for more than 35 years. This post, by Megan Huang in the National Archives History Office, was originally published in 2018 marking the centenary of the 1918 influenza. Mask-wearing was enforced during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, but many refused, citing the government mandates as threats to their civil liberties. This is from a study published in 1919 by the California State Department of Health. The effectiveness of masks was both under-researched and under-reported in 1918. In just one year, the U.S. life expectancy plunged a dozen years. It was impossible to know if the rules on masks on the return voyage were responsible for the lack of infections, but that was how the press interpreted it. Because of the isolated nature of quarantine, the 1918 pandemic was suffered largely in private. The New York Times looked at the timeline of the first mask orders issued in October 1918. In any case, the city was an outlier. In 1918, writes E. Thomas Ewing at Health Affairs, US public health authorities recommended masks for doctors, nurses, and anyone taking care of influenza patients.. The beak was stuffed with herbs, spices and dried flowers to ward off the odors believed to spread the plague. Buffalo Times, Oct. 15. Around the same time the San Francisco Chronicle ran its mask PSAs, newspapers around the country published a cartoon of a man hacking in public that warned, Coughs and Sneezes Spread Diseases: As Dangerous As Poison Gas Shellsagain linking fighting the flu to fighting World War I. In her study of the 1918 flu in Canada, historian Janice Dickin McGinnis argued that masks were widely unpopular and that even in places with mandatory masking orders in place, people often failed to wear them or just pulled them on when police appeared. People who didnt comply might face prison time, fines or having their name published in the paper, revealing they were a mask slacker.. On the other side of the Atlantic similar steps were being taken the Committee of the Academie de Mdicine of Paris recommended the wearing of face masks in the French captial in early November 1918. The result was a massive pandemic even reaching to Highland County, where overwhelmed citizens panicked as their friends and family became ill. There was some precedent behind the mask guidance. Churches and schools were closed, while local businesses and services that remained opened struggled with staff shortages. America and Europe have not seen similar outbreaks with such regularity. The first cases of the Spanish Flu showed up in March 1918 in Kansas. In fact, the infection rate of staff was as high in the high-protocol wards as in the improvised hospitals. But a cheesecloth mask was probably worse than no cloth, especially if they touched it frequently and changed it rarely. It has been updated with additional images. To most citizens, wearing a mask was an act of patriotism. For instance, Detroit health commissioner J.W. During the SARS epidemic in Hong Kong, the New York Times reported that consumers could purchase masks with Hello Kitty and other cartoon characters, as well American flag masks meant to show the wearers support for democracy. Follow her on Twitter at @MsBeckyLittle. Even when forced to wear masks by law or face jail time, many Americans absolutely refused to do so. What is clear is that communities that implemented stronger health measures overall fared better than those that didnt. With so many soldiers having just returned from World War I, the Red Cross and government officials framed mask wearing as a way to protect troops from the viral attack. Copyright 2023 The Regents of the University of California. Did you encounter any technical issues? The United States had just won the First World War, largely as a result of its citizens making needed sacrifices, from conserving food to sending loved ones into battle. Some cities had so many cases on its court docket that whole days, known as Mask Days, were designated to deal with the many offenders. In January, when flu cases began to surge again in San Francisco, the city implemented a second mask order. The impact of the virus can still be seen today in the health care advances brought on by the tragedy. Even Socialist Park in front of Tucsons City Hall was almost deserted as most of its regular political preachers stayed home. Its the care with which it is designed and constructed; it is the infrastructure that can assure a steady, sanitary supply; its the use of one technology and practice in conjunction with others, and it is especially the informed users who take responsibility for their own health and those of their fellow Americans. It is especially important to beware of the person who coughs or sneezes without covering his mouth and nose.. A woman taking a train from Chicago to Pasadena, Calif., reportedly experienced a break from sanity when she disembarked and beheld the masked city, according to a story in the Los Angeles Times. By the end of 1920, the flu had infected more than 500 million people, about one-third of the worlds population.

The citys health department even advised people not to kiss except through a handkerchief, and wire reports spread the message around the country. The 1918 influenza pandemic was a pandemic in the truest sense possible, affecting not just major population centers but also the most remote communities in the Pacific Islands and among Inuits in the far north. 1918. Then as now, warehouses were repurposed into quarantine hospitals. The jailers had taught them the useful art of wearing masks before their release, making room for the next troop of offenders in need of training while incarcerated. And mask wearing did seem to have a flattening effect on infection rates. Most people complied, but some resisted (or poked holes in their masks to smoke). So did Dr. Niven, the medical officer of health for Manchester, in northern England. A reporter noticed that those who did show up sounded like buzzing bees in a jug as they tried to speak with their masks snugly in place. The first cases of the Spanish Flu showed up in March 1918 in Kansas. But for them to work together, we have to work together. These varied by region, and included closing schools and places of public amusement, enforcing no-spitting ordinances, encouraging people to use handkerchiefs or disposable tissues and requiring people to wear masks in public. The first instance of the flu in Ohio likely came from soldiers coming back from the war. After armistice on November 11, San Francisco ended its mask order. O. ne of the most commonly promoted pieces of advice was to wear a mask. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Tucson, Arizona, issued a face mask ordinance on November 14, 1918, with exemptions for preachers, singers and actors in theatres and schoolteachers all thought to be far enough away from their audiences. Wearing a mask protected men, women and children from the flu and, sometimes, from other dangers as well. Mask orders were part of the last pandemic - the Spanish Flu outbreak in 1918. She did not infect anyone else. The masks disrupted lives in unexpected ways. The Medical Officer of Health for Edmonton reported that practically no one wore a mask thereafter, except in hospitals. All Rights Reserved. Not everyone wore his or her masks for the right reasons. The publics knowledge of the virus and its transmission methods was lacking, resulting in a higher spread of influenza. Americans used the masks as a method of retaining some normalcy during a pandemic that killed at least 675,000 Americans and 50 million people worldwide. The death rate is so high and they still hold back.. In just a day, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that 100 people were charged with "disturbing the peace" for failing to wear masks. In Eau Claire, Wisc., clerks were seen wearing masks on the street, as were newsboys whose shouts were muffled by the masks they wore while they tried to yell the days top headlines. Trump is ignoring the lessons of 1918 flu pandemic that killed millions, historian says, Yes, there really was a Typhoid Mary, an asymptomatic carrier who infected her patrons, Bubonic plague was so deadly an English village quarantined itself to save others. There are many parallels between the two pandemics. To entice people to get them to wear them, [cities] were pretty lax in terms of what people could wear, says J. Alex Navarro, assistant director of the Center for the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan and one of the editors-in-chief of The American Influenza Epidemic of 1918-1919: A Digital Encyclopedia. "Better be ridiculous then dead," is the view of one official. Residents continued to wear their masks through the November 5 midterm elections. All Rights Reserved. A group of dissenters that included a few physicians and one member of the Board of Supervisors formed the Anti-Mask League, which held a public meeting with over 2,000 attendees. At a boxing match, a police photographer captured images of several supervisors, a congressman, a justice, a Navy rear-admiral, the citys health officer and even the mayor, all without masks. It's also important to point out that masks in 1918 were nothing like the masks we have now. In fall of 1918 the United States experiences a severe shortages of professional nurses, because of the deployment of large numbers of nurses to military camps in the United States and abroad, and the failure to use trained African American nurses. States and cities reacted by closing down public gathering places, including schools, churches, movie theaters and large gatherings of any kind.

Science journalist Laura Spinney, author of the 2017 book The Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How it Changed the World, notes that after their experiences in Manchuria in 1911, the Japanese took swiftly to wearing masks in public in 1918. William T. Vaughan, Influenza: An Epidemiologic Study, (Baltimore, MD: American Journal of Hygiene Monographic Series, No.1, 1921) 241. The COVID-19 pandemic is not the first time people have been required to wear face masks for protection. Other practices included the closing of businesses, especially those that involved high contact between customers and owners. By noon it had none, wrote the late historian Alfred W. Crosby in America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. A clean handkerchief is just as good as the gauze.. In western states, some cities adopted mask ordinances, and officials argued wearing one was a patriotic duty. As mask use gained pace across Europe and North America the issue of supply became acute.

The initial appearance of the disease in the United States was in the spring of 1918, but its effects were mostly benign and not much more severe than the seasonal norm. View of a health warning notice about influenza, from the Anti-Tuberculosis League, posted on the inside of a public transport vehicle, 1918 - 1920. Masks were to be washed after each use, not touched once they were tied on, and boiled for five minutes before wearing again. Masks were to be washed after each use, not touched once they were tied on, and boiled for five minutes before wearing again. Couples who went on dates often found movie theaters and other centers of entertainment closed. The war, however, contributed to the diseases rapid spread. The above graph showed very little difference in death rates between Stockton, which mandated the wearing of masks in public, and Boston, which did not. The New York Times looked at the timeline of the first mask orders issued in October 1918.

Similarly, in China, mask-wearing has a long history. Soon after, Police Chief Bailey told the Tucson Citizen not that he was threatening arrest to miscreants but rather that, in his opinion: No gatherings will be considered fashionable unless the attendees are attired in masks..

The Toronto Transit Commission made face coverings mandatory at the beginning of July. Mask-wearing laws largely had public support and were mostly policed by consent. WATCH: World War I Documentaries on HISTORY Vault. In 1918, with a different virus, it didnt help. The boy later reported that he was thrown into a jail cell with 22 criminals facing an assortment of charges. In October 1918, the San Francisco Chronicle ran a public service announcement telling readers that The man or woman or child who will not wear a mask now is a dangerous slackera reference to the type of World War I slacker who didnt help the war effort. In the United States, where it ultimately killed around 675,000 people, local governments rolled out initiatives to try to stop its spread. Murphy, were compelled to wear masks., (Part 2 of this two-part series will appear on Oct. 29. During a pandemic, Isaac Newton had to work from home, too. Some say they are ineffective in fighting the coronavirus. When the fellow was finally released on the following day, his father pointed out how unjust it was that in enforcing a sanitary ordinance his son was forced to exist in the most unsanitary conditions. During the influenza pandemic of 1918, officials often advised Americans to wear face masks in public. Classified ads even listed jobs for agents to sell E-Z flu masks with liberal commissions. Im quoted as saying the gauze masks of 1918, may not have been much use to the user but did offer protection to those around them. I had in mind the ultimate public health lessons learned from the 1918 flu way down the line, in a study concluded a little more than ten years ago. But there were never enough masks. region: "", They were also important because they helped protect those around them. A large number of recent news items have reflected on our current crisis by looking to the past for comfort, commiseration, and even some answers. He took after our father. WebThe 1918 flu pandemic virus kills an estimated 195,000 Americans during October alone. But support for mask-wearing appears to be growing. The Park Theater in Indianapolis was an exception because they wisely offered patrons official Red Cross flu masks with the purchase of every ticket to the show. There were nine children at the time and he was the fourth oldest. When the novel coronavirus pandemic hit Asia, people across the region were quick to wear masks, with some places like Taiwan and the Philippines even making them mandatory in certain scenarios. 1918. Upper class ladies used sheer, mesh masks as fashion accessories to flaunt their wealth and style. Americans used the masks as a method of retaining some normalcy during a pandemic that killed at least 675,000 Americans and 50 million people worldwide. }); Although medicine had made great strides since the end of the 19th century with the discovery of germ theory, doctors and scientists seemed to have been powerless against the flu, owing to the rapidly mutating nature of its virus. That second order lasted about two months until the beginning of February 1919. He was most kind and patient.

Residents continued to wear their masks through the November 5 midterm elections. Americans either made their masks, with instructions in their newspapers, or acquired them for free, especially from the Red Cross. Scientists now know it was caused by an H1N1 virus, which continued as a seasonal virus for the next 38 years. Also, masks are most effective when worn properly, which wasnt always what happened. Mask-wearing ordinances mainly popped up in the western states, and it appears most people complied with them. Through the attempts to make wearing masks seem normal, positioned at stores alongside everyday things such as tobacco, mustache grooming and dancing, the grim truth persisted. For the most part, San Franciscans listened. A medical student in normally bustling Philadelphia recalled, after driving 12 miles without passing a single other car, that the life of the city had almost stopped., Yet the severe isolation was lamented by a strained medical community.

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