Way Back When: Halloween during the Spanish Flu

By Betsy J. Green

The streets in Santa Barbara were devoid of little demons and witches on Halloween in 1918 while the so-called Spanish Flu floated around the city.

The local paper wrote, “Flu puts quietus on even decorous revelry in cele-bration of Halloween. The Board of Health has issued orders forbidding ghosts to walk or congregate on Halloween this year, owing to the prevalence of the Spanish influenza. In past years, Halloween, the night on which ghosts are both unusually active and unusually propitious, has been celebrated in many and various ways, by small boys, and older ones, too, who on mischief bent, prowled the streets until a late hour, and older folk who made the night merry with dancing and parties. But on Halloween this year, there will be none of the usual gayety, for all are united in the effort to check the spread of the dread disease.”


Betsy’s Way Back When book — 1919 — is now available in local bookstores and at Amazon.com. This is the sixth book in her series of the history of Santa Barbara, one year at a time. Learn more at betsyjgreen.com​.

bjgreen

Written by bjgreen

Betsy J. Green is a Santa Barbara historian and author. Her books are available in local bookstores, and at Amazon.com. (Shop local if you can.) Learn more at betsyjgreen.com.

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  1. Spanish Flu 30% of the World Population became infected.
    Hong Kong Flu 40% of the World Population infected
    Swine Flu 21% of the world population.
    Covid 10% of the world population infected thus far. Will that # double or triple? Unknown. But we’ve been here before.
    Considering how much travel there is today vs 1918 & 1969.
    Considering the year of Wood Stock for the Hong Kong Flu.
    I’d say we’re all doing a great job at limiting the spread.
    No vaccination for “Spanish flu”
    Swine Flu disappeared after 18 months, no vaccination ever created. Swine flu is still present today.
    In the end there is no “cure”.
    This is evolution where nature is taking its course.
    We as humans try to stop it, but history has shown that we cannot cure. We can study & learn and try to help but we cannot stop these viruses.
    What we can do is control how we act and how we treat each other. We can all hide or just protect those that are most vulnerable.
    If we all hide the “cure” is worse than the disease between emotional, psychological, economical disasters. And the children are those that suffer the most.
    Not because the disease affects them, but because how the adults treat this pandemic.
    This will not be the last virus.
    Ask yourself if this how we should react every time a virus appears. Or if we should research and act with more purpose instead of dropping an “atomic” bomb on something we don’t understand.

  2. SBGETSALONG ignores successful interventions to control or even essentially eliminate disease. In this vapid attempt to defend the current US response to COVID he forgets the success of, for example, the polio vaccine effort of my youth. Here is a list of 14 important ones: https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/parents/diseases/forgot-14-diseases.html I do not want to simply let people die for the greater good of the others who have resources to survive.

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