"Keep Your Bedroom Windows Open! Prevent Influenza..." Poster in Trolley Car
11/8/1918
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This photograph was taken in Cincinnati, Ohio and shows a poster in a trolley car window encouraging the practice of keeping windows open to prevent the spead of the Spanish Influenza. This practice of keeping windows open was nationwide. The Spanish Influenza did much to slow up war progress in the United States.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic, also known as the Spanish Flu, was one of the deadliest events in human history. One fifth of the world's population was attacked. The epidemic killed an estimated 50 million people around the world – more than died in World War I. Within months, the deadly flu virus had killed more people than any other illness in recorded history.
Scientists, doctors, and health officials could not identify this disease which was striking so fast and so viciously, eluding treatment and defying control. Some victims died within hours of their first symptoms. Others succumbed after a few days; their lungs filled with fluid and they suffocated to death. The flu did not discriminate. It was rampant in urban and rural areas, from the densely populated East coast to the remotest parts of Alaska. Young adults, usually unaffected by these types of infectious diseases, were among the hardest hit groups along with the elderly and young children. The flu afflicted over 25 percent of the U.S. population.
Scientists, doctors, and health officials could not identify this disease which was striking so fast and so viciously, eluding treatment and defying control. Some victims died within hours of their first symptoms. Others succumbed after a few days; their lungs filled with fluid and they suffocated to death. The flu did not discriminate. It was rampant in urban and rural areas, from the densely populated East coast to the remotest parts of Alaska. Young adults, usually unaffected by these types of infectious diseases, were among the hardest hit groups along with the elderly and young children. The flu afflicted over 25 percent of the U.S. population.
This primary source comes from the Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs.
National Archives Identifier: 45499333
Full Citation: Photograph 165-WW-269B-22; Medical Department - Influenza Epidemic 1918 - Influenza epidemic impedes war progress. Trolley car windows were kept open to prevent the spread of Spanish Influenza which did much to slow up war progress in this country. This photo was taken in Cinc; 11/8/1918; Medical Department - Influenza Epidemic 1918; American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs, 1917 - 1918; Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs, Record Group 165; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/window-open-influenza-poster-trolley, February 16, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.