From all around the globe
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, surrounded by masked faces and terrifying headlines, it was easy to feel like we were living in a moment unlike any other. The world’s governments’ varied responses to crisis and the radical changes in our day-to-day lives seem unprecedented, but, in fact, the world had already undergone this shift about a century before.
The 1918 flu pandemic, also known as the “Spanish flu,” took everyone by surprise with its deadly and fast-spreading disease. In total, it lasted about a year and infected an estimated 500 million people—about a quarter of the world's population at the time—and resulted in around 50 million deaths across the globe.
Curious? Click through to see what it was like to live through the 1918 flu.
Just over a century ago, in March 1918, the first case was confirmed. Though there isn't a consensus on where it came from, it is largely believed to have been spread via troop movements during WWI.
During WWI, early reports of the illness in Germany, the UK, France, and the US were censored to maintain morale, but papers were free to report on the illness in neutral Spain, which created a false impression that Spain was especially hard hit.
Streetcar conductors in some cities had the right to deny entry to commuters who were not wearing a mask.
The exponential rise of cases overwhelmed hospitals, so communities erected makeshift hospitals, like this tented establishment.
Many public buildings and private residences were also converted to help fight the virus.
As protection against the influenza virus, men gargled with salt and water, thought to be a preventative measure. To this day, people believe this now-debunked myth.
In this slightly misguided effort, women from the Department of War took 15-minute walks to breathe in fresh air every morning and night to ward off the virus. However, they did it in big crowds.
Court in San Francisco was held outdoors in a park due to the pandemic.
Warehouses were converted to isolate and quarantine those with the virus, and thereby contain it.
Patients’ beds were alternately reversed so that the breath of one patient would not be directed toward the face of another.
Since so many doctors had been recruited for the war, cities recruited volunteer nurses. Some desperate people reportedly abducted nurses and demanded they care for family members.
Disheartened women gathered to enroll more nurses during the pandemic and do the brave work of taking care of patients.
This was sometimes enforced among other instructions, which included using a handkerchief to cover coughs and sneezes, avoiding crowds, not using common towels, and not doing anything too tiring.
Philadelphia society matron Mrs. JL Ackerson used her automobile to serve as a chauffeur for Fleet Hospital during the outbreak.
Most people did not have the ability to work from home as we do today, so they were forced to go into offices, some of which staggered work hours in an effort to slightly isolate workers.
At least today we're quicker to the point of staying inside, unlike this San Francisco congregation praying on the steps of the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption, where they gathered in large numbers to hear mass.
Getting air was a large part of the advice given to combat the influenza.
The sheer scale and swiftness of the pandemic meant communities were overwhelmed by the body count. Morgues were so over capacity that some families kept the deceased in their homes until their remains could be collected, and some undertakers resorted to using packing crates in the absence of coffins.
There were theories that people of color were less susceptible to the flu. However, biologically the virus does not discriminate.
The flu is supposed to affect the elderly and children hardest, but 1918’s malnourishment, overcrowded hospitals, and poor hygiene reportedly promoted bacterial superinfection, which killed most of the victims.
In the reported view of one official of the New York Health Board, it is "better [to be] ridiculous, than dead."
Volunteers worked tirelessly to hand-make masks for soldiers.
The caption below reads, "The experts say in effect: 'Don't talk to anyone, don't go near anyone, and you are safe!' No doubt. But is not this a little difficult."
One survivor recounted that society had shifted after the pandemic, seeing as there were no more gatherings at school or church or with family, and the fear drove people apart and made them leery of each other. Some said it destroyed the intimacy in their communities.
The horror and sadness of facing so much death so consistently was a huge blow to people’s optimism of life, especially after seeing it taken away from the healthiest of people.
And we're unfortunately still learning.
See also: The man who predicted the pandemic foresaw a third World War
What it was like to live through the 1918 "Spanish" flu pandemic
Before coronavirus, the world lived through the Spanish flu
LIFESTYLE History
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, surrounded by masked faces and terrifying headlines, it was easy to feel like we were living in a moment unlike any other. The world’s governments’ varied responses to crisis and the radical changes in our day-to-day lives seem unprecedented, but, in fact, the world had already undergone this shift about a century before.
The 1918 flu pandemic, also known as the “Spanish flu,” took everyone by surprise with its deadly and fast-spreading disease. In total, it lasted about a year and infected an estimated 500 million people—about a quarter of the world's population at the time—and resulted in around 50 million deaths across the globe.
Curious? Click through to see what it was like to live through the 1918 flu.