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ENLARGE
Nevada County residents wore gauze masks to protect themselves and each other from the Spanish influenza in the fall of 1918.
Swine flu news has most people jittery, but while it’s a serious situation, most experts believe the virus is not likely to spread with the indiscriminate, deadly fierceness of the 1918 Spanish influenza — a worldwide pandemic that killed an estimated 30 million people, including more than 650,000 victims in the United States.
Although the Spanish flu surfaced in the spring of 1918, Nevada County was relatively unaffected. That fall, however, a second wave of the disease did in the western county.
The first local cause for alarm occurred Oct. 12, The Union reported more than 300 cases had been reported in Dunsmuir, in Siskiyou County. Two days later, in nearby Colfax, a man died from the disease. Then a Grass Valley woman died in Alameda.
The Union immediately began a campaign of public awareness with a slogan as serious in 1918 as it is today: “Cover up each cough and sneeze. If you don’t, you’ll spread disease.”
By late-October, dozens of flu cases had been reported here, prompting officials in Nevada City and Grass Valley to take action. The Union advised, “There are to be no more moving picture plays,” while noting libraries and schools also would soon need to close. Churches and lodges were asked to cancel all gatherings.
Citizens were required to wear gauze masks when they stepped outside their homes, and merchants were ordered to wear masks at all times. Stores, bars and restaurants were instructed to close by 6 p.m., and The Union of Oct. 23 advised, “The (Nevada City) saloons turned out their joy lights and locked their doors so that there was really no place to go except home, and nothing to do except go to bed.”
The next day, however, six more cases were reported in Nevada City, more than a dozen in Grass Valley, and local Red Cross volunteers began handing out gauze masks at street corners.
“The mask is now almost universal,” observed The Union, “no one appearing without a mask except a few irresponsibles who will probably be first to succumb to the plague.”
In Nevada City, town trustees imposed a $100 fine or 10 days in jail, or both, for anyone spotted on the street without a gauze mask. Most complied, but not all, prompting The Union to editorially note, “exceptions, for the most part, being those too drunk to know whether they were masked or not, or too mean for anyone to care to go to the trouble of saving.”
On Nov. 11, 1918 — as the Armistice was signed inside a railroad car in France — the death toll in Nevada County had exceeded 20, with hundreds more infected. But the end of the Great War was cause for public celebration, no matter the risks.
Reporting on a local victory rally, The Union claimed, “It was a contest between the non-congregation demanded by a proper handling of the flu epidemic and the patriotic reaction. The patriotic influence won.”
By the end of November, Grass Valley doctors reported more than 300 influenza cases with 20 deaths. Nevada City had more than 120 cases and six deaths. In all, one person in eight in Nevada County contracted the Spanish flu that autumn, and there were no trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
Slowly, the crisis waned, gauze masks were discarded, and fewer funerals were held. It had been a disastrous time for most business owners, and it would take several months for the local economy to rebound
That summer, thousands enjoyed the Independence Day parade in Grass Valley — and no gauze masks were seen in the crowd.
Steve Cottrell lives and works in Nevada City and has been writing and lecturing about local history for more than 20 years.
Although the Spanish flu surfaced in the spring of 1918, Nevada County was relatively unaffected. That fall, however, a second wave of the disease did in the western county.
The first local cause for alarm occurred Oct. 12, The Union reported more than 300 cases had been reported in Dunsmuir, in Siskiyou County. Two days later, in nearby Colfax, a man died from the disease. Then a Grass Valley woman died in Alameda.
The Union immediately began a campaign of public awareness with a slogan as serious in 1918 as it is today: “Cover up each cough and sneeze. If you don’t, you’ll spread disease.”
By late-October, dozens of flu cases had been reported here, prompting officials in Nevada City and Grass Valley to take action. The Union advised, “There are to be no more moving picture plays,” while noting libraries and schools also would soon need to close. Churches and lodges were asked to cancel all gatherings.
Citizens were required to wear gauze masks when they stepped outside their homes, and merchants were ordered to wear masks at all times. Stores, bars and restaurants were instructed to close by 6 p.m., and The Union of Oct. 23 advised, “The (Nevada City) saloons turned out their joy lights and locked their doors so that there was really no place to go except home, and nothing to do except go to bed.”
The next day, however, six more cases were reported in Nevada City, more than a dozen in Grass Valley, and local Red Cross volunteers began handing out gauze masks at street corners.
“The mask is now almost universal,” observed The Union, “no one appearing without a mask except a few irresponsibles who will probably be first to succumb to the plague.”
In Nevada City, town trustees imposed a $100 fine or 10 days in jail, or both, for anyone spotted on the street without a gauze mask. Most complied, but not all, prompting The Union to editorially note, “exceptions, for the most part, being those too drunk to know whether they were masked or not, or too mean for anyone to care to go to the trouble of saving.”
On Nov. 11, 1918 — as the Armistice was signed inside a railroad car in France — the death toll in Nevada County had exceeded 20, with hundreds more infected. But the end of the Great War was cause for public celebration, no matter the risks.
Reporting on a local victory rally, The Union claimed, “It was a contest between the non-congregation demanded by a proper handling of the flu epidemic and the patriotic reaction. The patriotic influence won.”
By the end of November, Grass Valley doctors reported more than 300 influenza cases with 20 deaths. Nevada City had more than 120 cases and six deaths. In all, one person in eight in Nevada County contracted the Spanish flu that autumn, and there were no trick-or-treaters on Halloween.
Slowly, the crisis waned, gauze masks were discarded, and fewer funerals were held. It had been a disastrous time for most business owners, and it would take several months for the local economy to rebound
That summer, thousands enjoyed the Independence Day parade in Grass Valley — and no gauze masks were seen in the crowd.
Steve Cottrell lives and works in Nevada City and has been writing and lecturing about local history for more than 20 years.
