No, not all of these photos are from the 1918 flu pandemic

Women in gas masks, others with bags on their heads and stay at home posters. If posts on social media are to be believed, these images and more come from the 1918 flu pandemic.

"Photos from the 1918 flu pandemic," proclaimed one such recent Facebook post that contained 11 photos. The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

PolitiFact conducted reverse image searches to determine the origins of the photos. Of the 11 photos, six bear no connection to the 1918 flu pandemic. Let’s take a look at those first.

The first photo features two women with what look like bags over their heads. According to the Associated Press, it was captured in November 1953.

"War surplus gas capes are used by Meriel Bush, left, and Ruth Neuer, in an attempt to dodge the eye-stinging effects of a low-hanging smog and smoke which enveloped Philadelphia for the second straight day," reads the AP’s caption.

A reverse image search located the image of masked women walking arm in arm on a stock photo website. On the site, the photo is described as, "Ladies' fashion from 1913. New veil fashions, based on Turkish nose veils."

When debunking claims that the photo was of the 1918 flu pandemic, AFP Fact Check’s bureau in Thailand contacted the German photo agency, Süddeutsche Zeitung Photo, which was listed as the photographer.

 "The original picture description says that the nose veils were the fashion for ladies after the Balkan war," Süddeutsche Zeitung’s spokesperson told AFP in an email.

The Balkan Wars unfolded from 1912 to 1913.

A photo of women in gas masks tending to a stroller is from a June 1941 gas test during World War II, according to Getty Images.

"9th June 1941: A gas masked young mother attends to her child's pram gas mask during a surprise gas test in Kingston," reads the Getty Images photo description.

One of the images from the post is an advertisement for a Bell Telephone Co. "People who are in quarantine are not isolated if they have a Bell Telephone," the ad reads.

Back in May, Snopes.com debunked the claim that this ad was connected to the 1918 pandemic. 

Versions of this ad existed as early as November 1910. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch ran an ad that was nearly identical, but with a different tag, "The Bell Telephone Company of Missouri." 

The ad mentions "quarantine" and "the sick," but there is no indication it is a direct reference to any particular illness.

An image of an ad that encouraged people to stay home was created not in 1918, but in 2020.

"Stay At Home," the ad says. "It has never been easier to save lives."

Though the graphic illustration may appear vintage, it was made in March in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic. A French illustrator named Mathieu Persan made versions of the poster in various languages and posted them on Twitter. If you look closely, you can see his signature on the right side of the illustration.

Featured Fact-check

Instagram posts

stated on October 6, 2024 in an Instagram post

FEMA “blocked a runway” at a South Carolina airport and “halted” hurricane relief flights.

A photo of two women who appear to be visiting over a car window while wearing masks was taken in 1929, during a separate flu epidemic. 

"Two women wearing flu masks during a flu epidemic in 1929," reads Getty Images’ photo description.

The 1928-29 flu epidemic was studied by health professionals using data from the 1918 pandemic.

Here’s what we can tell you about the five photos that are actually from the 1918 influenza pandemic time period.

• A reverse image search identified a photo of a woman wearing a mask as a Getty Images stock photo from February 1919. "A woman wearing a flu mask during the flu epidemic which followed the First World War," reads Getty Images’ caption.

• A photo showing a sign on a streetcar proclaims, "Spit spreads death." A reverse image search revealed the New York Times had used this photo as a feature image for a story about the 1918 flu. Crediting the photo to the Historical Medical Library of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, the Times caption reads, "An anti-spitting sign posted on streetcar in Philadelphia, October 1918."

• An image shows rows of beds used for treating flu patients from the 1918 pandemic, according to Getty Images. The photo was featured in Wired and Business Insider stories about the visuals from the 1918 flu pandemic.

• "All theatres closed until further notice at request of mayor," reads a sign behind a young boy. The photo was used in a story published by the Seattle Times in July. Credited to the Museum of History & Industry, the Times’ caption reads, "A masked newsboy looks west outside the closed Pantages Theatre box office during the influenza pandemic of nearly 102 years ago. Likely, the photo was taken between Oct. 5 and Nov. 11, 1918." It was also used in the museum’s webinar about the 1918 pandemic.

• And a news announcement with a Red Cross nurse wearing a mask is legitimately from 1918, according to The Washington Post and The Guardian. "A Red Cross nurse wears a gauze mask over her nose and mouth in this 1918 imaged published in the Illustrated Current News of New Haven, Conn.," the Washington Post reported in its description of the photo.

A Facebook post claims 11 photos are "photos from the 1918 flu pandemic." 

This is not the case. Five of the 11 photos are from the 1918 influenza pandemic time period; six are not. We rate this claim Mostly False.