History UsefulNotes / TheSpanishFlu

Given the purpose of this wiki, the Spanish Flu's impact on the nascent film industry is of particular relevance. Between California's ban on public gatherings preventing the shooting of crowd scenes and the shuttering of movie theaters eliminating the demand for new films, Hollywood ended up shutting down production for over a month in late 1918. At the time, most cinemas in the U.S. were independently owned, and the loss of months of revenue left many of their owners financially ruined. This enabled the major Hollywood studios, particularly {{Creator/Paramount}} under Adolph Zukor, to swoop in and purchase up those struggling independent theaters for peanuts. This gave the studios more control over distribution, paving the way for the studio system that would dominate UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.

Given the purpose of this wiki, the Spanish Flu's impact on the nascent film industry is of particular relevance. Between California's ban on public gatherings preventing the shooting of crowd scenes and the shuttering of movie theaters eliminating the demand for new films, Hollywood ended up shutting down production for over a month in late 1918. At the time, most cinemas in the U.S. were independently owned, and the loss of months of revenue left many of their owners financially ruined. This enabled the major Hollywood studios, particularly {{Creator/Paramount}} under Adolph Zukor, to swoop in and purchase up these struggling independent theaters for peanuts. This gave the studios more control over distribution, paving the way for the studio system that would dominate UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood.

Given the purpose of this wiki, the Spanish Flu's impact on the nascent film industry is of particular relevance. Between California's ban on public gatherings preventing the shooting of crowd scenes and the shuttering of movie theaters eliminating the demand for new films, Hollywood ended up shutting down production for over a month in late 1918. At the time, most cinemas in the U.S. were independently owned, and the loss of months of revenue left many of their owners financially ruined. This enabled the major Hollywood studios, particularly {{Creator/Paramount}} under Adolph Zukor, to swoop in and purchase up these struggling independent theaters for peanuts. This gave the studios more control over distribution, paving the way for the studio system that would dominate UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfHollywood in the 1930s and 1940s.

Scientists are still not completely sure why the 1918 strain was so deadly, but one thing that certainly didn't help was that many people in leadership positions at the time saw this flu thing as a distraction from the all-important war effort. Infamously, {{UsefulNotes/Philadelphia}} held a massive Liberty Loan Parade, against the warnings of health officials, and ended up being one of the worst-hit cities in the U.S. As the disease spread across the world, leaders did take action sooner or later, often later. Actions varied from place to place, but generally involved typical public health measures like instituting quarantines, banning public gatherings, and closing schools, churches, and many businesses. Many people wore face masks, and in some places, they were compulsory.

The Spanish Flu was a global pandemic that ravaged the world in the late 1910s, peaking in late 1918 as UsefulNotes/WorldWarI was winding down. The pandemic is traditionally estimated to have killed about 50 million people (with some estimates as high as 100 million people), more than died in the war, and infected some 500 million people. For reference, this was at a time when the world population was approximately 1.8 billion.

The Spanish Flu was a global pandemic that ravaged the world in the late 1910s, peaking in late 1918 as UsefulNotes/WorldWarI was winding down. The pandemic is traditionally estimated to have killed about 50 million people, more than died in the war, and infected some 500 million people. For reference, this was at a time when the world population was approximately 1.8 billion.

->''I had a little bird''\\

''And in-flew-Enza''\\
-- Popular children's rhyme in 1918

No doubt due in part to that wartime censorship, the Spanish Flu has long been overshadowed by World War I. In older works set during the relevant time period, you'll be lucky if there's any mention at all that an apocalyptic influenza outbreak was going on at the same time as the war. This has been somewhat corrected in recent decades, and nowadays, the Spanish Flu will, at the very least, merit a token mention in most fiction about World War I.

* The 1985 independent film ''1918'' is set in the titular year, portraying how the war and the flu pandemic impact a small town in Texas.

The pandemic did not actually originate in Spain. Neutral Spain simply reported on it more honestly due to the lack of wartime censorship, creating the false impression that it was especially bad there. However, the name stuck. The actual origin of the pandemic is unknown to this day, although the most popular theories claim that it began in either China or the United States.

* The 1985 MadeForTVMovie ''1918'' is set in the titular year, portraying how the war and the flu pandemic impact a small town in Texas.

* The MadeForTVMovie ''1918'' is set in the titular year, portraying how the war and the flu pandemic impact a small town in Texas.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' mentions it as part of why Edward became a vampire.

[[AC:Web Original]]

!!Depictions in fiction

* The ''Series/Leverage'' episode "[[Recap/LeverageS05E09TheRundownJob The Rundown Job]]" features a terrorist plotting to unleash the Spanish Flu on modern-day Washington, D.C.

* Prominently featured in an episode of ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' - only ''one'' episode, mind, but the series tends to TimeSkip several months between each one. Used for a TonightSomeoneDies plot, as several major characters contract it.