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In April 2020, as the United States adjusted to new social-distancing protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19 coronavirus disease, the above-displayed photograph started circulating on social media that supposedly showed two women wearing masks in 1919 during the Spanish flu pandemic. This is a genuine photograph. However, it was not taken in 1919 during the flu pandemic, and these masks were being worn for fashion, not medical, purposes. This image is available via Alamy and presented with the title Ladies' fashion from 1913. That image is also attached to a description in German that explains the trend imitated traditional veils worn in Turkey. Here's the original caption (translated via Google): Although this particular photograph shows two fashionable women, people were encouraged to wear masks during the Spanish flu pandemic. Here's a 1918 newspaper clipping from The Oakland Tribune announcing that police officers would start patrolling the streets to make sure people were wearing flu masks: Sat, Oct 26, 1918 – Page 7 · Oakland Tribune (Oakland, California) · Newspapers.com The 1918 H1N1 pandemic infected an estimated 500 million people (about a third of the world's total population) and resulted in an estimated 50 million deaths, 675,000 of which occurred in the United States. Mandating people wear protective masks was just one method cities in the United States used to fight the disease. According to CNN, the United States led the world in mask wearing during that pandemic. In some areas of the country, such as San Francisco, citizens were required to wear masks in public. CNN writes: A number of images showing this unusual time in American history can be found on Getty Images. Here are a few photographs showing police officers, sanitation workers, and everyday citizens wearing masks in an effort to prevent the spread of disease during the 1918 pandemic:
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