Barbara O'Neil

A circa 1918 photo of two boys getting ready to go to school - this is how they dressed to protect themselves from the "Spanish Flu".

Photo of an unknown typist in New York City wearing a mask to prevent influenza infection. The influenza epidemic impacted all parts of daily life. Officials advised all citizens to wear face masks in public and even at their homes.

People were so worried about catching influenza (rightly so!) that they often believed that a person could contract the disease by touching documents and equipment.

A photo of a NYC streetcleaner during the 1918 flu epidemic.

Feeling better! Stella Vandivier; Photo taken by doctor in his office after arm surgery; Age 16. Stella May Vandivier was born on November 1, 1880, in Union City, Indiana, the only child of Joseph Henry and Harriet Addie Jane. She married Charles Oren HAYMAKER on August 24, 1898, in Johnson, Indiana. They had 11 children in 18 years. She died on January 31, 1964, in Ocala, Florida, at the age of 83.

A photo of Edward Ellingson Enger, Fire Chief

A photo of Willis Washington Mahan and his son Thomas Walter Mahan, taken about 1886 in Waco, Texas, where W. W. Mahan was a constable.

A photo of Tom Sawyer, San Francisco firefighter, in the 1860's.

In 1863, Tom Sawyer was a customs inspector, volunteer firefighter, and special policeman in San Francisco. One night, he was playing poker with a young writer at a steam bath in the city. As they played and talked, Tom told the writer the following story:

In 1853, Tom was a fire engineer on a steamboat, The Independence. While the steamboat was heading towards San Francisco (from Mexico), it hit a reef off of Baja. As a result, the engines caught fire and the ship started to founder. There were 359 passengers on board . . . and only one usable lifeboat.


At this point, 2 of the crewmen jumped overboard and started to sink. Tom jumped into the sea, recovered the men, and swam with them on his back. He swam 100 yards to shore, left the men, and returned to the ship, returning to the shore several times with passengers on his back.

Finally, the one usable lifeboat and two lifeboats that were patched up were lowered in the water. They were loaded with passengers and when the lifeboats made shore, Tom took one and headed back to the ship. He tossed life preservers to the remaining passengers, lined them up in the water (holding each other) and towed them back to shore. He now had burned forearms but he kept towing passengers to the shore for the next hour until the ship was a sheet of flame. By the end, he was credited with saving 90 passengers.

The writer was riveted by the story and they became fast friends. Tom said of the writer: "“He could drink more and talk more than any feller I ever seen. He’d set down and take a drink and then he’d begin to tell us some joke or another. And then when somebody’d buy him another drink, he’d keep her up all day. Once he got started he’d set there till morning telling yarns.” He also said that the writer always seemed to be broke.

One day the writer came up to Tom. "Tom,’ he says, ‘I’m going to write a book about a boy and the kind I have in mind was just about the toughest boy in the world. Tom, he was just such a boy as you must have been....How many copies will you take, Tom, half cash?"

In 1866, the writer left San Francisco and Tom never saw him again. But in 1876, the writer published a book - yes, the writer was Sam Clemens (Mark Twain) and his book was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

A photo of Ray Cortland Young in his U.S. Secret Service uniform.

An interesting look back in time. I am not positive, but think this is WWI.

A Silicon Valley inventor before there was a Silicon Valley, Lee de Forest is one of the fathers of the electronic age.

De Forest invented the Audion, a vacuum tube that ushered in the widespread use of electronics. He was also given an Academy Award (in 1960) for "his pioneering inventions which brought sound to the motion picture" as well as a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

His archives are stored in San Jose (the Heart of the Silicon Valley), waiting for space, perhaps in the San Jose Historical Park.

In this photo, he is identified as sitting in front of "one of his inventions".

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Bain News Service

Robert Lee Gaissert is on the second row, fifth from the left. He was age 50 when this was taken.

Taken when Henry was living in Bakersfield and had his grocery store business. Before my mother was born in 1917 in Santa Maria, CA.

Vegetable and fruit trucker in front of general store, Pie Town, New Mexico. Grapefruit which he brings in is from Arizona. Added by Ancient Faces on January 5, 2012.

A photo of my second great grandfather, William Benjamin McClellen Poust, following a black bear hunt in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

A photo of Louis M Buzek with Mother, Irene
1923
People in photo include: Irene (Menona) Buzek

Iroquois Indians in Buffalo New York in 1914.

This was a panoramic photo, put together in two parts, so I split the photo back into two parts. While it is difficult to see the faces, the photo gives a wonderful sense of what life was like for these people. It looks to be the dead of winter.

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, William A Drennan

Photo of Seattle policemen wearing masks provided by the Red Cross to protect them from influenza. Seattle politicians feared that there would be mass hysteria due to the disease and so urged citizens to stay indoors and avoid congested areas.

These Seattle policemen were constantly patrolling the streets during the epidemic.

Photo of an unknown nurse wearing a mask for protection against influenza. You have got to admire all medical professionals who took care of the sick during the world's most terrible epidemic.

Congress had to approve a $1 million budget granted to the U.S. Public Health Service to recruit 1,000 medical doctors and 700 registered nurses due to the extreme danger these professionals underwent given their proximity to the influenza disease.

Catherine Barrett Peddle surrounded by grandchildren/nieces/nephews