The Sober Reality of the 1918 Spanish Flu Epidemic -- Literally

Bars are often where people go to forget about their troubles. This was especially true in 1918 when labor was often manual and technology like the internet was not yet available as a means of distraction. The 1918 onset of the Spanish influenza certainly called for distractions, and Philadelphia was hit harder than anywhere else in the world.

As noted by the journalist Kevin C. Shelly, more than 30 percent of Philadelphians were infected. Between September and early November 1918, 12,000 residents died. Grasping for ways to slow the spread of the disease, state officials moved to close public gathering spaces. After all, places like bars were both havens of distraction and hot beds for germs. Thus, according to the historian Alfred W. Crosby, on October 4, 1918, Doctor B. F. Royer, Pennsylvania's Acting State Commissioner of Health, "issued an order closing all places of public amusement and all saloons in the entire state," and further banning the distribution of alcohol by any means other than a medical prescription. Unsurprisingly, the order was controversial.

A Prescription for Whiskey

Despite the statewide ban, Philadelphians were determined to find a way to drink. The historian John M. Berry stated that the city coroner criticized the ban by arguing that "alcohol was the best treatment for influenza." Throughout the ban, the Philadelphia Inquirer published editorials condemning it. For example, on October 23, the paper published the following editorial:

Under the belief that drinking did have medical benefits, at the time, alcohol could be prescribed by physicians. This fact was a common way around prohibition, which began in 1920. The image below is of a prescription for alcohol issued to a Philadelphia woman in 1927.

Retrieved from Pinterest.com

The same tactic was attempted by Philadelphians during the influenza. On October 4, the Pennsylvania Gazette reported that the demand for whiskey prescriptions was so high that "the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Temple University suspend classes so that pharmacy students can help fill prescriptions." Shelly also noted that Philadelphians "crossed the river in droves" to drink in Camden, outside the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania's statewide closure. Whether for perceived health benefits or simply to deal with the tragedy, people found ways around the ban.

The End of the Long Thirst

Public places, including bars, were reopened on October 30 after the death toll had slowed. Describing the event, Crosby wrote that "the long thirst was over." The Inquirer celebrated with the following editorial:

The day before, the paper called the ban "tyrannical," concluding with, "We have passed through a most dismal period, the gloom of which will be lifted by the reopening of places of amusement. They never should have been closed."

It is hard to tell how much closing places like bars contributed to slowing the spread of the disease. In the moment, many of the ill or fearful citizens who lived during the pandemic wanted to drink, and certainly many of the distributors wanted customers. Crosby contended that the ban cost saloons about $350,000 dollars. But, perhaps more importantly, the historian wrote, "no one has ever successfully quantified grief, and so that measurement must be left to the reader’s imagination."

Sources: Barry, John. The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. New York: Penguin, 2009.

Crosby, Alfred W. America's Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Shelly, Kevin C. "Philadelphia was epicenter of a deadly worldwide flu epidemic 99 years ago." PhillyVoice. January 18, 2017. http://www.phillyvoice.com/influenza-philadelphia-was-epicenter-of-a-deadly-worldwide-flu-epidemic-99-years-ago/. Accessed January 21, 2018.

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