Wearing a mask while trying to smoke a cigar during the flu epidemic of 1918, in Phoenix, Arizona


Although most of the people that I talk to have never even heard of the flu epidemic of 1918, which killed about 500 million people worldwide, it's something that history buffs know about, and think about. This morning I was pondering how difficult it would be for people in Phoenix to follow the new regulations, not only without air conditioning in buildings, but wanting to smoke, like a cigar.

Time-travel with me to 1918 in Phoenix, Arizona. I'll be a prominent businessman, like the owner of a bank, and I'll like to smoke cigars. By the way, even though smoking is fairly rare nowadays, back then it was very common - most people smoked. My parents were heavy smokers up until the Surgeon General's Report came out in the mid-sixties. Smoking may have gotten some prudish looks back then, but mostly it was seen as an innocent thing to do, to help you relax. Even doctors smoked. My mom tells that when she was pregnant with me that her doctor recommended that she keep her "usual habits", including smoking. Maybe that's why I'm not 6' 4"!

Anyway, even though I've never been a smoker I know how addictive it is. I've always been a "live and let live" person, and I sympathize with people who have gotten addicted to this particular drug, which is nicotine. From what I've read the withdrawal symptoms are horrible, and people who have tried to "kick the habit" tend to go back to it, over and over.

Anyway, as a prominent businessman in Phoenix in 1918 I'd have, in addition to a big mustache, and a bowler hat, a nice Havana. I'd have to go into the city to sit at my desk, and sign papers for loans, and I'd hang my mask over my ear as long as I was in my private office. If I went over to, say, the Adams Hotel for lunch, I'd take a few puffs, put on the mask, and walk a few blocks.


People who cut a hole in their mask so they could smoke cigarettes through it were people who were anxious not to be hassled by the police, but didn't quite understand the concept of how a mask works. Still, you have to give them at least partial credit.

I enjoy learning about how people used to live, and I especially like seeing original documents. This goofy cartoon tells me a lot about how ordinary people dealt with the new mask regulation in Phoenix in 1918, and then as now, people are people!

From the Library of Congress

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