In our century

Cities were filthy, dirty places in the early 1900s, in which the pesky fly thrived. Early editions of The American City carried articles about the importance of eliminating the pests to control the spread of illnesses as well as educating residents about the problems the insects caused.

The July 1914 edition of the magazine included an article by A.E. Chapman, the “Official City Fly Catcher” for Redlands, Calif., who designed and built large street traps for flies that succeeded in making Redlands a flyless town. The wood traps had two cones and a boxed-in space at the bottom, “which furnishes a comfortable place for the flies to congregate in hot or cold weather.” The boxed-in space typically would be baited with fresh or canned fruit, or flavored syrups diluted with water or water and a little vinegar, and a sprinkling of cinnamon powder. “In early summer, it is necessary to use fresh fish, run through a meat chopper to prevent cats from stealing it. Add water with a small percentage of formaldehyde to prevent the fish from growing stale.”

Flies would enter the boxes attracted by the bait and, when trying to leave after their feast, would be trapped by the cones. The traps were set on streets throughout the city’s business district, and according to Chapman, between 70 and 80 gallons of dead flies were collected from the traps in the first month.

To complement fly capture, fly swatting was heartily encouraged. In the August 1914 edition of the magazine, the following essay was reproduced from an English newspaper:

“The early fly’s the one to swat. It comes before the weather’s hot, and sits around and files its legs and lays at least 10,000,000 eggs, and every egg will bring a fly to drive us crazy by-and-by.

Oh, every fly that skips our swatters will have 5,000,000 sons and daughters, and countless first and second cousins and aunts and uncles scores of dozens, and 57,000,000,000,000 nieces, so knock the blamed thing all to pieces.”

Previous “In our century” Stories

• In our century — August 1913
  When bond issues fail, cities seek alternative funding for infrastructure improvements and other public projects
• In our century — August 1914
  Cities improve cleanliness and public health by strategically placing public restrooms and encouraging their use
• In our century — December 1914
  Cities begin the tradition of decorating enormous public Christmas trees to celebrate the holidays
• In our century — June 1910
  Government accounting methods and reports mature from vague and incomplete records to standard formats.
• In our century — October 1909
  Investigations into corruption and mismanagement lead to (some) reforms in government policies and operations.
• In our century — January 1913
  Cities experiment with road surfaces and set out methods for funding road construction and maintenance.
• In our century — September 1909
  Limits on outdoor advertising are set through cities’ hard-fought battles over billboard sizes, messages and locations.
• In our century — August 1911
  Fire departments gain authority, modern equipment to prevent and improve response times to structure fires.
• In our century — June 1910
  Street lights become symbols of communities’ economic success, and lighting technology efficiency evolves.
• In our century — September 1909
  With urban growth comes city leaders’ desire to control and direct it for the community’s greatest benefit.
• In our century — September 1909
  Cities embrace playgrounds as valuable public assets for children’s safety, health and social development.
• In our century — September 1909
  Women embrace public causes, work to improve their communities and expand their societal roles.
• In our century — March 1910
  Cities develop methods, mechanisms and regulations for residential solid waste collection and disposal.
• In our century — November 1909
  Occupancy laws and social workers emerge in the early 1900s to clean up inner-city neighborhoods.
• The way we were
  Publisher’s son remembers American City & County‘s roots.