Masking in New Orleans During the 1918 Flu Epidemic

In a letter to the editor of the Times-Picayune in 1918 in the midst of the last major epidemic in New Orleans, a customer scoffs at the "profiteering in local restaurants" who are claiming to be covering the price of the masks worn by waiters. This person offers a suggestion of eating a home to "teach a lesson to the restaurant octopus."

Oh, if only this person knew that in a hundred years New Orleanians would gladly pay the extra 2 cents (!) for oyster soup for the chance to dine out in a restaurant!