Bay Area's 1918 ‘Mask-Up’ Message Surfaces In WSJ

MILL VALLEY, CA – For most of the past two years, health experts have implored the public to mask-up in indoor settings.

1918 Marin has just joined the chorus, courtesy of the organizers or one of the West Coast’s most storied road races.

A century-old photo was taken from Mill Valley during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic, and it shows residents carrying a back-to-the future message that lands well in today’s world.

The black-and-white photo shows seven people wearing long coats and brimmed hits near some railroad tracks with Mount Tamalpais in the background, with one wearing a sign that reads: “Wear a mask or go to jail.”

The photo was. published Dec. 10 in The Wall Street Journal. The Raymond Coyne Family provided the photo to the Dispea Race, which copyrighted the historical document.

The photo shows that resistance to mask-wearing isn’t confined to the last 18 months.

Facial coverings were a hot-button political and cultural issue in 1918-1919, too, The New York reported, noting some sliced holes in their masks so they could smoke.

“In 1918 and 1919, as bars, saloons, restaurants, theaters and schools were closed, masks became a scapegoat, a symbol of government overreach, inspiring protests, petitions and defiant bare-face gatherings,” The Times’ Aug. 2020 report said.

“All the while, thousands of Americans were dying in a deadly pandemic.”

The anti-maskers of a century ago were called “mask slackers,” and they were organized.

The Anti-Mask League of San Francisco formed in 1919 to protest mandates in a region that at the time was among the nation’s most adherent to mask restrictions, Business Insider reports.

“They eventually got their way, but only after San Francisco became one of the worst-hit cities in the US. Eventually, 45,000 residents were infected,” the report said.

The Dipsea is held annually along a rugged 7.4-mile course from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach. America’s longest running trail race, first held in 1905, is internationally renowned for boasting spectacular natural beauty.

The race is typically held on the second in June but was held last month amid ongoing concerns surrounding the pandemic.

Mark Tatum, 61 of Colorado Springs, Colorado, became the first non-Californian to win the Dipsea since Gail Scott of Durango, Colorado in 1986.

Tatum is the first male from outside the state to win the historic trail race since Joe Patterson of Queensland, Australia in 1975.

Two-time Dipsea champion Chris Lundy of Mill Valley posted the fastest time (1:01.25) and highest finish (eighth) by a female runner in this year’s race.