WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 7, 2020 23
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The Spanish Flu hits Woodhaven in 1918
Manor Delicatessen in 2020 . Courtesy of Woodhaven Cultural and Historical Society
PRESENTED BY THE WOODHAVEN
CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL
SOCIETY
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
@RIDGEWOODTIMES
We’ve been through this once
before. The world, the United
States of America and
Woodhaven all dealt with the deadly
1918 infl uenza pandemic, known as
the Spanish Flu, which infected an
estimated 500 million people around
the globe, leaving somewhere between
50 and 80 million people dead.
It was a nasty virus whose effects
were exacerbated by countries moving
so many troops around the world
during World War I. Many soldiers
who were infected overseas gave the
sickness to their fellow soldiers, and
eventually came home to spread the
illness further.
Although it was called the Spanish
Flu, or the Spanish Influenza, there
is no clear idea of where or how the
1918 pandemic was spawned.
However, during its spread, many
countries around the world were at
war with each other. The effects on
their populations were considered
a military secret, and publishing
news about the flu was discouraged
or forbidden.
Spain remained neutral during
World War I and their press corps
was free to write about the devastating
effects of the flu on their people.
As Spain was about the only major
country bringing attention to it, it
became known as the Spanish Flu.
Here in Woodhaven, news of the
pandemic did pop up from time to
time in local papers. The first report
of it was in early 1918, when they reported
that “One hundred thousand
cases of ‘Spanish influenza’ are
reported in Germany. There are
25,000 cases in Berlin alone and the
hospitals there are full. Even the
doctors and nurses in most of the
hospitals have been stricken.”
Such reports brought some hope
to a population already weary by the
cost of war. But it was false comfort
as the flu pandemic that was coursing
through Europe was poised for a
second wave in the fall as it began its
spread in the United States.
The first reported case in New
York was in early September and by
early October, over 58,000 cases had
been reported in our city.
From September through December
1918, obituaries in the local
papers were dotted with references
to influenza. Men, women, old and
young, the 1918 did not discriminate;
everyone was vulnerable to its
effects.
Despite many public gatherings
beings canceled as part of an effort
to stop the spread, several public
meetings were held to explain how to
stop the spread of influenza. Cover
your cough, don’t kiss people if you
are infected, steer clear of infants
and seniors if you have the flu. All
good advice we should be following
every flu season, not just during a
pandemic.
As there were shortages of masks,
one doctor held a demonstration
for the people of Woodhaven showing
them how to create their own
masks.
The month of October was the
deadliest on the pandemic, striking
down nearly 200,000 Americans,
with an astonishingly high number
of victims in the middle of the curve,
the healthy young men and women
from 25 to 35 years old. Twentythree
French soldiers died here in
the United States in service to our
country and they were buried at the
National Cemetery here in Cypress
Hills.
The end of the war in November
1918, right in the middle of the deadly
second wave of the flu, brought cheer
to the world. There was a chaotic
scene in Woodhaven when residents
staged an impromptu, and very loud,
patriotic parade celebrating the end
of war.
But for some families, the pandemic
side effects of the war still
continued to take their toll. One
devastating story was that of the
Lilkendey family, where three family
members died in the space of a
few days.
Otto Lilkendey, his 4-year-old
son Walter and 3-year-old daughter
Margaret passed away in rapid succession,
and the mother was in such
poor condition that doctors did not
tell her of their deaths for many
weeks, until she was recovered.
Otto Lilkendey was the proprietor
of a business on Jamaica Avenue
across from Manor Avenue (94th
Street) which he had taken over in
1914. That business, Manor Delicatessen,
is well-known to all of us
and is still going strong, branching
out in recent years to include two
restaurants.
* * *
If you have any remembrances or
old photographs of “Our Neighborhood:
The Way It Was” that you would
like to share with our readers, please
write to the Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY
11361, or send an email to editorial@
ridgewoodtimes.com. Any print photographs
mailed to us will be carefully
returned to you upon request.
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