Sailors and Nurses with Masks in a Hospital Ward, San Diego, California, 1919

A Vintage Photos Theme Park photo for the theme of hospitals.

Handwritten message on the back of this real photo postcard: "Most of the sailors in the picture are from Texas. Do they look it? Dotty from Carrall, 1919, San Diego, Calif."

Written on the front of the photo: "Yours truly," with an arrow pointing to the grinning sailor seated in the middle of the front row.

Ten sailors, who I assume were patients in this hospital ward, and four nurses posed for this photo, which was taken during the Spanish flu pandemic that lasted from February 1918 to April 1920.

To prevent the spread of flu, most of the sailors and nurses are wearing masks over their faces or have them draped around their necks. Three of the sailors are sitting in front of sewing machines, and I suspect that they used them to sew masks.

A century later, sewing and wearing masks once again became a familiar sight, unfortunately, during the COVID-19 pandemic.