MY LATEST @latimes COLUMNA: During the 1918 flu pandemic, L.A. didn’t make masks mandatory. It was a poor choice. RT, porfas! https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-12-29/1918-influenza-los-angeles-masks-luther-powers

So for this story, I did one of my favorite things: dive into archives to bring up historical gold that shows how the past can teach us even today. As @Scrface87 would do:

This time, I went deep into the fight that still happens today: Whether to make masks mandatory in Los Angeles to stop a pandemic. Last time around, it was the 1918 influenza. Here's a LAT clipping from early in the pandemic.

LA City Health Luther Powers quickly shut down schools, businesses and other large gatherings to stop the spread of the flu, which earned him praise from historians but got him mocked in 1918. Here's an LA Times cartoon doing that. Note Miss LA, which was the paper's go-to muse!

But one thing Powers never did was enact a mask ordinance, even though he urged the public to wear them. In this bulletin, he said doing so would be a “benefit by willingly entering into this public duty without being forced.”

Narrator: The public didn't.

The City Council considered the matter 4 times, but never passed anything. They weren't even swayed by California Gov. William Stephens, who advocated for their use and is seen here in an official portrait published by the Times in Jan. 13, 1919

Unsurprisingly, the LA City Council and Powers were swayed by maskholes and PANDEJOS. Chief among them? The LA Times.

Here's an editorial cartoon mocking a mask proponent from Nov. 1918

Here's one from Jan. 18, 1919:

And, in one of the most asshole moves I've ever seen an American newspaper do, here's the LA Times mocking San Francisco, which suffered mightily during the 1918 pandemic even though they had a mask policy. I know there's a rivalry between LA and SF, but COME ON!!!

But Powers never budged. LA did fare better than other cities, but still. KEY QUOTE from my story: A public health official had a chance to help save even more lives, and blew it.

I have a BUNCH of other clippings, but I gotta run off to my next columna. But please do read/share/subscribe to LA Times! Special gracias to homie jefe @hbecerraLATimes for his expert edits. In the meanwhile, as @dario_rivero would do: