This is an excerpt from a public health poster about the Spanish influenza (flu) pandemic, drawn by children’s illustrator and author May Gibbs in 1919. She used familiar characters, like the gumnut babies, to encourage readers, especially children, to wear masks to reduce the spread of the deadly infection. It is just as relevant today.

Image by May Gibbs. Reproduced with permission from joint copyright holders – The Northcott Society and the Spastic Centre. Sourced from The National Archives of Australia