Changes

With the Covid-19 pandemic still raging and resurging in the United States, public health officials are encouraging people to wear masks to limit the spread of the virus. In some parts of the United States, there has been hostility to this. Similarly, the 1918 so-called Spanish Flu pandemic also faced similar hostility in places to wearing masks. Public health officials then turned to a variety of tactics to get people to wear masks then which might help encourage some to wear masks in modern epidemics.

One newspaper, <i>Seattle Daily Times</i>, even created a headlines titled: “Influenza Veils Set New Fashion: Seattle Women Wearing Fine Mesh With Chiffon Border to Ward Off Malady." The idea of calling them veils, rather than masks, was intended to get people to feel they were more of a fashion item, perhaps similar to how some masks today are relatively decorative. However, sometimes well-meaning efforts also failed, where making them into fashion items also meant that people often put masks on incorrectly or even altered them from their true intention (Figure 2). Finally, embarrassing people was another tactic used, with some places having the local newspaper print the names of people who were caught not wearing a mask.

==Complaints Concerning Masks==

The standard complaints people did give in 1918 on why they did not wear masks did vary, besides the main reason being that some saw them as impinging on their personal freedom. One of the most common complaints was they were hot and stuffy. Some businesses worried masks would limit sales, as people would not want to wear them so they would not go outside and shop. Others pointed out that mask were ineffective.

Many of these complaints had merit, although they could have been remedied or at least minimized, such as wearing masks properly to make them more comfortable and effective. For instance, people were even caught making holes in their masks so they could smoke, negating the utility of a mask. Protests did spring up, including those organized by anti-mask groups, but generally people complied with either laws requiring masks to be worn or followed due to pressure.