The newspapers were supplied daily with information
regarding the status of the outbreak. They advised and warned the
public on how to avoid contracting and spreading the disease. Generally,
the tone of the articles was not very serious because it was feared that
the people would panic. Police Chief John H. Alcock threatened that
he would supply the local newspapers with the names and addresses of all
people arrested for spitting. Each week the Health Department
supplied the newspapers with short articles on how to keep healthy during
the epidemic. The following is an example of a daily press release
from the Department of Health:
Special Daily Press Service,
Department of Health
Chicago, October 24,1918
Influenza Dont's
Don't live in the dark
Don't shut the sunshine out of your home
Don't exclude the fresh air
Don't fail to keep clean
Don't go into crowed places
Don't associate with people who sneeze and cough
in your presence
Don't use common towels
Don't fail to practice what you preach
Don't overtax your physical powers. Cut
out evening entertainments. Be in bed by ten o'clock.
Don't fail to sleep with every window in your
bedroom open.
Don't fail to call your doctor for yourself or
any other member of your family at the first sign of illness.
Better be safe than sorry.
Don't allow your home to become damp, chilly,
or uncomfortable.
Don't fail, if possible, to walk to your work
in the morning and to your home at night. The open air exercise will
be of decided benefit.
Posters were hung at the entrances of theaters,
on elevated train platforms (and in the cars themselves), and other various
places around the city. The Department of Health produced lantern
slides to be shown in every moving picture theater in Chicago. These
slides warned the public about the danger of sneezing and asked those with
colds to leave the theater. Life in the city was not altered significantly
by the extensive warnings because the citizens didn't consider the announcements
to be threatening in any way.
This poster was placed in front of Chicago theatres as a general prevention to keep influenza victims out of the building.
This political cartoon was printed in a Chicago newspaper.
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