In the America of 1957 one of the biggest pandemics of the modern era broke out. Not coincidentally, a
hit of that year was “Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu” by Huey “Piano” Smith (no
relation) & the Clowns.
Smith's musical legacy
stands alongside that of fellow New Orleans legends and hundreds of artists have
recorded his songs. A rhythm and blues pianist, he incorporated boogie
styles as well as jazz stylists. Smith became known for his shuffling
right-handed break on the piano that influenced others. When he was 21 he became
the piano player with Little Richard's first band for Specialty Records. `Pneumonia
& Flu’ was a breakout Top Five R&B hit and the record sold over a
million copies. The
addition of Bobby Marchan as lead singer in 1957 gave his band the Clowns its
own distinctive sound and with `Rockin' Pneumonia’ they hit # 52 pop, # 5
R&B. Smith concentrated on humorous songs with nonsensical lyrics and a
heavy New Orleans rhythm that was perfect for dancing but no matter they managed
to capture the enthusiasm of good time music. And on stage they were even
better. The Clowns were really something to see, pulling a series of
vaudevillian stunts and generally stirring up the audience.
The flu pandemic of 1957-58 deserves to be much better known,
not just because the public health threat was a closer match to our own but
because American society at the time was better prepared—culturally,
institutionally and politically—to deal with it.
Despite the pandemic, people thronged the beach and boardwalk at Coney Island in July 1957. No masks, no social distancing, no lockdowns occurred. PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS
The “Asian flu”—as it was then uncontroversial to call a contagious disease that originated in Asia—was a novel strain (H2N2) of influenza A. It was first reported in Hong Kong in April 1957, having originated in mainland China two months before, and—like Covid-19—it swiftly went global.
The age group that suffered the heaviest losses globally were
from 15-24 years old or the prime marketing target or early rock ‘n’ roll. Unlike
Covid-19, however, the Asian flu killed young people and in terms of excess
mortality relative to baseline expected mortality rates the rock ‘n’ roll
generation suffered the losses that were 34% above average mortality rates.
The most recent research concludes that between 700,000 and 1.5
million people worldwide died in the pandemic. A pre-Covid study of the 1957-58
pandemic concluded that if “a virus of similar severity” were to strike in our
time, around 2.7 million deaths might be anticipated worldwide. The current
Covid-19 death toll is 3 million, about the same percentage of world population
as were killed in 1957–58
Cases also appeared among the 53,000 boys attending the Boy
Scout Jamboree at Valley Forge, Penn. As Scout troops traveled around the country,
they spread the flu. It was the start of the school year that made the Asian flu
an epidemic. Younger people experienced the highest infection rates.
The year 1957 was in many ways the dawn of the American
teenager. The first baby boomers born after the end of World War II turned 13
the following year. Summer camps, school buses and unprecedented social
mingling after school ensured that between September 1957 and March 1958 the
proportion of teenagers infected with the virus rose from 5% to 75%.
The policy response of President Dwight Eisenhower could hardly have been more different from the response of 2020. Eisenhower did not declare a state of emergency, no state lockdowns, restrict travel, close borders, or recommended wearing masks, and, despite the first wave of teenage illness, no school closures. Sick students simply stayed at home. Work continued unabated. Dad went to work every day and his factory stayed open.
In 1957 Dad went to work every day at Gubelman's factory in Newark, N.J.; he was 21 and at the highest risk of contracting the influenza.
The CBO described the Asian flu as an event that “might not be distinguishable from the normal variation in economic activity.” Experts from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) concluded that “there is no practical advantage in the closing of schools or the curtailment of public gatherings as it relates to the spread of this disease.” Hospital admissions were only for the sickest patients….Most were advised simply to stay home, rest and drink plenty of water and fruit juices.”
A striking contrast between 1957 and the present is that
Americans today appear to have a much lower tolerance for risk than their
grandparents and great-grandparents. As one contemporary recalled, “For those
who grew up in the 1930s and 1940s, there was nothing unusual about finding
yourself threatened by contagious disease. Mumps, measles, chicken pox and
German measles swept through entire schools and towns….We took the Asian flu in
stride. We said our prayers and took our chances.” Perhaps a society with a
stronger fabric of family life, community life and church life was better
equipped to withstand the anguish of untimely deaths than a society that has,
in so many ways, come apart.
There were no lockdowns since the U.S. working population simply
did not have the option to work from home in 1957. In the absence of a
telecommunications infrastructure more sophisticated than the telephone (and a
quarter of U.S. households still did not have a landline in 1957), the choice
was between working at one’s workplace and not working at all.
In 1957—even with a serious risk of infectious disease (and not
just flu; there was also polio and much else), life was jovial. By contrast, to
be young in 2020 was—for most American teenagers—rather hellish. Stuck indoors,
struggling to concentrate on “distance learning” with irritable parents working
from home in the next room, young people experienced at best frustration and at
worst mental illness.
Huey “Piano” Smith captured the celebration of the rock ‘n’ roll
Generation despite the pandemic.
No masks, no social distancing, and kids mingled freely: 1957 Boy Scout Jamboree, Valley Forge, PA
The pandemic hit the schools in September but they remained open with no social distancing, and no masks, or separation: high school students in Washington, D.C., September 1957 EVERETT COLLECTION
Stores remained open and crowded; this is a Sears parking lot in 1957.
