On Oct. 23, 1918, the Los Angeles Times ran a statement from the California Governor William Dennison Stephens calling for voluntary mask wearing. This was never mandated for the city, because the U.S. Surgeon General asked the health advisory board not to mandate masks.

L.A. city leaders were not as easily convinced on the mask issue as their Northern California counterparts, however. Mayor Woodman felt that they might offer some protection and therefore should be used.