Thread by @WILLisms

Recently, a Baby Boomer extended relative shared this "Do's and Don't's for Influenza Prevention" list from the November 15, 1918 edition of the Douglas Island News in Alaska, with the suggestion that this advice is somehow... good. You can find it here: newspapers.com/clip/47051883/

1918 was a lot like 2020. A lot of folks were very willing to try out masks in response to a deadly virus (Spanish Flu was *far* worse than COVID).

Masks were mandated in very few places in 1918. The rationale for masks in 1918 was personal protection, not societal protection.

By the 1919-1921 timeframe, a strong consensus had formed against masks.

I've taken a serious deep dive into documents and newspapers from the Spanish Flu era to get a sense of what was going on. A few things stand out.

The Secretary of the Navy in 1920 noted that everyone in the medical system wore masks, yet morbidity was high among those attending the sick. "No evidence would justify compelling persons at large to wear masks during an epidemic."

https://twitter.com/WILLisms/status/1394418058022821888?s=20

Possibly America's most famous doctor of the era, Dr. Warren Taylor Vaughan, speculated that anything short of covering the entire head, including the eyes, would be pointless: "the face mask as used was a failure."

https://twitter.com/WILLisms/status/1394418063899041793?s=20

Dr. W.H. Kellogg wrote: "The masks, contrary to expectation, were worn cheerfully and universally, and also, contrary to expectation of what should follow under such circumstances, no effect on the epidemic curve was to be seen. Something was plainly wrong with our hypotheses."

Dr. Kellogg explained in 1920: "Masks have not been demonstrated effective to have a degree of efficiency that would warrant their compulsory application for the checking of epidemics." ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/artic…

In 1918, masks were usually called "flu masks" in the media. Flu masks varied in construction but were typically made of several layers of medical gauze or cloth, with some sort of ointment applied to the outside of the mask to ostensibly kill germs.

In October of 1918, instructions for making flu masks appeared in countless newspapers. It usually looked something like this one, from October 9th in the Chattanooga Daily Times in Tennessee: newspapers.com/clip/85379297/…

In 2020, we had fifteen days to slow the spread.

In 1918, this Canadian doctor was promising just five days would do the trick.

Edmonton Journal (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) · 23 October 23, 1918: newspapers.com/clip/85364621/…

By January 1919, "the flu mask has been discarded as a preventative... proved of little value." newspapers.com/clip/85322935/…

The Los Angeles Evening Express in January 1919: "It may sound harsh, but nevertheless the statement remains true that 'closing the town,' wearing of masks and anti-influenza serums have proved to be no more efficacious as preventatives of this plague..."
newspapers.com/clip/85324332/…

More from Los Angeles: "As to the wearing of gauze masks, the California State Board of Health reports that its very complete records 'indicate conclusively that the compulsory wearing of masks does not affect the progress of the epidemic.'"
newspapers.com/clip/85324332/…

Masks were declared ineffective all over the country, including Vernal, Utah in 1919: newspapers.com/clip/85324952/…

Society going from eagerly embracing masks to rejecting them wasn't just a matter of preference or partisanship.

Then, as now, there was real-world data demonstrating the lack of effectiveness of compulsory masking.

newspapers.com/clip/85325249/…

78% of strictly masked nurses in one study nevertheless contracted Spanish Flu.

Meanwhile, cities requiring masks did not perform better than mask-optional cities. newspapers.com/clip/85325249/…

Forced-mask Stockton, California had 10% more deaths per capita than mask-optional Boston.

newspapers.com/clip/85382183/…

Death rates varied by city, but as of February 1919, the forced-mask city of San Francisco had a worse death rate than all but three other major cities: newspapers.com/clip/85331489/…

High death rate San Francisco was hardcore about its forced-masking: "The fiscal year 1918-1919 was a big year of arrests. One reason for this was the 'flu' mask ordinance. More than 3,000 were arrested for violating this."

newspapers.com/clip/85369642/…

In February of 1919, the Modesto Morning Herald in California called flu masks a "joke."

Indeed, they had "been more or less of a joke for some time."

newspapers.com/clip/85331163/…

In January of 1920, lots of articles like this: "It seems generally agreed that the 'flu mask' is ineffective; and, in short, so far as we are able to learn baffled medical science is little nearer a solution of the problem of 'flu' prevention than ever."
newspapers.com/clip/85322576/…

I'm going to periodically update this thread with interesting clips from 1918-1921.

Back in February 2021, @justin_hart posted some additional relevant articles from the era:

https://twitter.com/justin_hart/status/1357018681029533696

After looking through thousands of old newspapers, some advice for today's "health officials":

Don't say things like: "We are in Stage 5."

That sort of bureaucratic claptrap is indecipherable inside-baseball jargon to all future humans. AND to people today outside of your city.

Look upon this totally fake photo-op about the wife of the Governor of Virginia, in the Oakland Tribune.

newspapers.com/clip/85365904/…

There is apparently a time-honored tradition of making "the help" wear masks.

In San Francisco in 1919, one restaurant advertised that their waiters wear flu masks.

newspapers.com/clip/85387281/…

During Spanish Flu, there was neither the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (founded in 1946), nor World Health Organization (1948).

Instead, there was the Rockefeller Institute.

Marketers and newspapermen took on the Rockefeller brand for their masks.

I couldn't help but smirk all the way through the reading of this one about the brief 1918 mask mandate in New Orleans. Let's expand on this one in the next couple of tweets.
newspapers.com/clip/85389547/…

"Doomed" flu masks "prevent free breathing and fresh air and don't keep out flu germs."

Then you have Dr. G.M. Corput coming in and overruling the initial mask mandate from Captain P.H. Brigham, who was in charge of sanitation for the army in New Orleans.
newspapers.com/clip/85389770/…

In response to his petty tyranny and hysterical overreach, Captain Brigham was given the boot.

Immediately.

"It is understood that Capt. Brigham has been assigned to other duty."

newspapers.com/clip/85390080/…

Let's examine crime and punishment.

In the 1918-1920 Spanish Flu era, criminals often utilized flu masks conceal their identities.

Meanwhile, police forces in some cities (disproportionately in California) focused on persecuting mask-free individuals minding their own business.

Christmas shoppers in downtown Los Angeles were harassed by a police "Flu Squad" in 1918.

newspapers.com/clip/85426803/…

The famous Fatty Arbuckle, who had recovered from Spanish Flu, nevertheless wore a mask "so he could pass the police."

newspapers.com/clip/85426182/…

In the earliest days of Spanish Flu masking (October 1918), there were some false alarms. One man in a flu mask had to "convince a skeptical policeman that he was not a burglar."

newspapers.com/clip/85390575/…

Masks, of course, have throughout human history been what robbers and ne'er-do-wells wear in public.

In October 1918, a "peaceful citizen, homeward-bound" wearing a flu mask caused police to swarm him after someone believed the man was stalking him.

newspapers.com/clip/85386919/…

Under the "Lucid Intervals by Lucifer" byline, one Nebraska newspaper was noted in November of 1918 that "profiteers and bank robbers are probably at home in one of the masks."

newspapers.com/clip/85421049/…

Stockton, California, which ended up with a high Spanish Flu death rate compared to other cities, rigorously enforced its mask mandate. They even hired "several extra deputy marshals" to see that the ordinance was obeyed.

newspapers.com/clip/85422050/…

Some in 1918 refused to comply with forced-masking ordinances. Some even became famous for it.

In 1919, it was noted that W.E. Copeland "came into prominence last winter as the first person arrested for refusing to disfigure himself with a flu mask."

newspapers.com/clip/85370218/…

Cities with mask mandates in November of 1918 saw high compliance. An estimated 95% compliance in Phoenix, a "city as grotesque as as masked carnival."

newspapers.com/clip/85427502/…

In October 1918, a barber in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania was "charged with refusing to wear a mask."

Guess what happened next.

(see next tweet)

newspapers.com/clip/85422314/…

Did you guess that the Pennsylvania barber would comply?

He promised to wear the required mask in the future. Because of course he did.

Because threatening someone's livelihood works nearly every time.

newspapers.com/clip/85429592/…

In the Bay Area in 1918, police even raided hotels to discover and arrest mask-free individuals.

A "mask slacker squad" enthusiastically arrested people stepping off ferry boats without masks.

newspapers.com/clip/85422179/…

Even the Mayor of Oakland, John L. Davie, was arrested in Sacramento for going about his business mask-free.

Davie couldn't get out of jail until the police arrested someone else and could finally make change for the Mayor's twenty-dollar bill.

newspapers.com/clip/85423736/…

"I have never worn an influenza mask and never will. I am a healthy man now and know full well if I put one of those things on, I will get sick. I would rather stay in jail the rest of my life than wear one."

He bent the knee, and they let him go home.

newspapers.com/clip/85422009/…

In 1918 in Walla Walla, Washington, police issued fines of $50 for the first offense, $100 for the second offense of mask-free normalcy.

newspapers.com/clip/85419871/…

It wasn't just the West Coast. Even in one small town in Nebraska, flu masks were required in November 1918.

newspapers.com/clip/85368879/…

Australia, in 1919 as now, "rigorously enforced" various mandates and quarantines. Smoking was no excuse.

newspapers.com/clip/85391071/…

Masks in the Spanish Flu, as is the case today, were opposed by many people in places where they were required. San Francisco formed an "Anti-Mask League" and many prominent Pasadenans were arrested for refusing to don the flu mask.

newspapers.com/clip/85430728/…

Sometimes, during Spanish Flu, just as today, both the commitment to the mask's magic, as well as the reaction to forced-masking, got a little kooky.

Fearful Berkeley city council members quickly adjourned a meeting when a mask-free individual arrived.

newspapers.com/clip/85422906/…

In 1919 as today, mask-free individuals "stormed" various council meetings to demand an end to coerced masking.

newspapers.com/clip/85422554/…

In 1919, the reaction to forced-masking got wild and woolly.

One man, born in 1844, refused to wear a flu mask. When he came to pay his fine, he tossed some mothballs to "clarify this courtroom."

He also asserted tobacco would work better than a mask.

newspapers.com/clip/85419940/…

In 1918, San Francisco health officer Dr. William Hassler (one who hassles?), an advocate of forced-masking, claimed that he received threatening letters and even a bomb from those who opposed compulsory masks.

This story credulously spread far and wide.

newspapers.com/clip/85369053/…

Courts were clogged with mask cases, and S.F. ended up with higher death rates than all but 3 big cities, but Dr. Hassler said in 1918: "The big decrease...proves the efficacy of wearing masks... the epidemic will be stamped out in a very short time now."

newspapers.com/clip/85432309/…

Dr. Hassler was very, very wrong about many things, and his "bomb" story, frankly, has the feel of a Jussie Smollett-style PR stunt, but he had enormous power and was responsible for San Francisco's harmful "flu mask or jail" policy that spread elsewhere.

newspapers.com/clip/85387057/…

Dr. Hassler's "someone tried to bomb me" story may or may not have been true, but violence does beget violence.

Forced-masking is, of course, literal violence, so violent refusal shouldn't be a shock, in response to some number of enforcement encounters.

newspapers.com/clip/85422845/…

When a Flu Mask patrol confronted mask-free Sherman Hutcheson in November 1918, he told the cop: "To hell with a mask, and you too!"

Hutcheson successfully hurled a can of syrup at the officer's head, pulled a razor out, then the cop shot him in the leg.

newspapers.com/clip/85422845/…

In this version of events, the razor-blade wielding Hutcheson said "To hell with you and your mask." Slightly different.

Hutcheson got to recover from his gunshot wound in a local sanitarium. No word on whether he was ever charged with a crime.

newspapers.com/clip/85433835/…

Crime is up in America since March 2020. Crime is complicated, but some blame ubiquitous masking for at least some of the rise.

What about during the Spanish Flu?

Inspector Pennish of Sacramento claimed that the 1918-1919 crime spree was due to masks.

newspapers.com/clip/85422977/…

This clip would not pass muster with the AP Stylebook today, to say the least, but in October of 1918, flu masks began to be used frequently to conceal identities during robberies.

In this case, a man in Lackawanna held up someone for a watch and cash.

newspapers.com/clip/85336054/…

In October of 1918, a San Francisco fisherman named Angelo Gonzales reported being held up by two men wearing flu masks.

newspapers.com/clip/85336316/…

In Seattle, three robbers wearing flu masks got away in October of 1918, after making a "Germanistic descent" on a Japanese small business owner.

newspapers.com/clip/85421477/…

In Oakland, criminals wore flu masks to commit assault and steal property in November of 1918.

newspapers.com/clip/85434831/…

In Spokane, Washington in November of 1918, a flu mask-wearing robber appeared and took $225, a watch, and a ring.

newspapers.com/clip/85420017/…

How many Lowes could Rob Lowe rob if Rob Lowe could rob Lowes?

In Spokane, Washington in November of 1918, Fred Lowe was robbed by a highwayman disguised with a flu mask.

Was it the same robber, perhaps, who robbed both Carl Madson and Fred Lowe?

newspapers.com/clip/85386351/…

Also in November of 1918, in Los Angeles, a man named Dr. Brainerd had his car stolen by two bandits wearing flu masks.

newspapers.com/clip/85386160/…

The flu-masked bandits who stole Dr. Brainerd's car felt so secure in maintaining their secret identities, they mocked police in a note they left in the car.

They also called Dr. Brainer's chauffeur a "game guy," which I presume is some sort of insult.

newspapers.com/clip/85386475/…

San Francisco, with its compulsory masking, suffered a particularly rough spate of flu mask-concealed criminality.

In November of 1918, three bandits wearing flu masked held up four cars and got away with $500.

newspapers.com/clip/85386403/…

In December of 1918, a trio of robbers in flu masks robbed a friendly, trusting grocer who thought they were just normal customers.

newspapers.com/clip/85386264/…

In 1918, San Francisco briefly ended, then reinstated, its forced-masking mandate.

Bandits were pleased when it returned, and January 1919 saw a bonanza of flu mask-concealed criminality in San Fran.

newspapers.com/clip/85448528/…

In San Francisco on January 14th, 1919, the newspaper reported that thugs wearing flu masks made three stick-ups in fifteen minutes.

newspapers.com/clip/85448799/…

On January 17th, 1919 in San Francisco, it was reported that flu mask bandits held up a lone woman.

newspapers.com/clip/85421547/…

In the January 19th, 2019 edition of the San Francisco Examiner, we see a few stories of bandits wearing flu masks.

A grocery store was robbed, in this case.

newspapers.com/clip/85449240/…

In this circumstance on the same date, a San Francisco storekeeper was robbed by three masked bandits.

newspapers.com/clip/85449430/…

On January 21st, 1919 a masked bandit ordered a meal at a San Francisco restaurant before robbing it.

newspapers.com/clip/85449588/…

A law-abiding citizen wrote in to the San Francisco newspaper on January 23rd, 1919, to ask the obvious rhetorical question:

Why are police arrested maskless citizens, while the masked robbers are getting away with daily violence?

newspapers.com/clip/85449884/…

In January 1919 in Prescott, Arizona, an influenza mask decoy worked to aid the commission of a stick-up at a hotel.

Too bad for the robber: the hotel expected just such a thing and removed all the cash from both the till and safe.

newspapers.com/clip/85421320/…

On February 1, 1919, San Francisco again ended its forced-mask ordinance.

The flu mask crime spree mostly dried up in San Francisco thereafter.

newspapers.com/clip/85451085/…

In March of 1919 in Oakland, however, a flu mask bandit held up four places in the same neighborhood.

newspapers.com/clip/85451406/…

Even Kansas saw flu mask bandits during the era of ubiquitous Spanish Flu masking.

newspapers.com/clip/85450382/…

In Los Angeles, complaints in the newspaper about a flu mask bandit sticking around, despite the Spanish Flu itself being gone.

newspapers.com/clip/85450662/…

By the summer of 1919, masked people in public were again rare, and masks again became conspicuous, suspicious, and associated with criminal intent. Like most of history. But in May 1919, the flu mask bandits returned to San Francisco, for one last score.

newspapers.com/clip/85386085/…

Even more Spanish Flu masking news clips from @justin_hart: covidreason.substack.com/p/1918-newspap…

In November of 1918, an Indianapolis automobile dealership suggested that a significant perk of car ownership was being able to avoid wearing a "flu mask."

newspapers.com/clip/91839177/…

What's the deal with unions and forced-masking?

In December of 1918 in Iowa, masks were required for participation in a union meeting.

newspapers.com/clip/91839604/…

The Fort Wayne newspaper, in December of 1918, suggested that flu masks improved the looks of some community members:

newspapers.com/clip/91839828/…

I was always told that if you want to know how a young lady will look as she ages, look at her mother. So making a "my mother-in-law is ugly" joke seems a bit like a self-own.

Nevertheless, a fictional Iowan named "Ferdie Fizzle" made the joke in 1918:

newspapers.com/clip/91840737/…

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

https://twitter.com/WILLisms/status/1486409975710859271?s=20

The pie-in-the-sky utopian ignorance of real-world human behavior the forced-maskers has remained steady over time.

"Within a few days after the entire population begins wearing the influenza masks there will be no further spread in this city."

newspapers.com/clip/93512969/…