On Nov. 2, 1918, Health Commissioner Dr. Max C. Starkloff, ordered St. Louis policemen in department stores and smaller shops to keep crowds from gathering too much.

A week later, on November 9, Starkloff issued a sweeping proclamation immediately closing all non-essential stores, businesses, and factories for four days in a drastic attempt to stamp out the epidemic once and for all.

As Starkloff explained later in his annual report, the November 10 was a Sunday and November 11 was Armistice Day; in reality, his ban only affected the city’s economy for one-and-a-half days. That fact did not placate business owners.