Face mask repurposed from a commemorative Mardi Gras baseball cap
date: label: date made
content: 2020
label: used date
content: 2020-02-14 through 2020-02-25
notes: label: Description
content: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 outbreak had become a pandemic. In the months before the WHO’s declaration, the SARS-CoV-2 virus had already begun to circulate in the continental United States. However, in the absence of effective testing, the spread and presence of the virus was unknown in the United States during January, February and much of March, 2020. This lack of testing and the corresponding lack of evidence indicating the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus led many to assume that it did not pose a threat. As a result, activities and unrestricted travel across the United States continued to occur during February of 2020.
label: Description
content: Typically, many Americans travel to New Orleans for Mardi Gras parades and events. 2020 was no exception. More than a million people from across the United States came to the city to celebrate Mardi Gras at events that began on February 14th and culminated on February 25th (the actual date of Mardi Gras or “Fat Tuesday”). Because no federal, state, or local public health warnings about COVID-19 had been issued, there were no restrictions on any of the events traditionally associated with Mardi Gras. Parades and block parties went on as scheduled and tourists crowded into bars, restaurants, hotels, and major tourist destinations such as Jackson Square as well as the city’s famous streetcars. Specific practices associated with Mardi Gras greatly exacerbated visitors’ proximity to other tourists; the tradition of throwing items from floats, for example, often led revelers to come into extremely close and repeated contact with others.
label: Description
content: Within twelve days of Mardi Gras itself, local hospitals detected COVID-19 cases among their patients. Ultimately, public health officials would come to believe that New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebrations caused approximately 50,000 cases of COVID-19. Unlike the outbreaks in New York City and Washington State which were instigated by travelers from outside the United States, the Louisiana outbreak appears to have been instigated by domestic travelers, clear evidence that COVID-19 was widespread and prevalent in the United States by February of 2020. The discovery that New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration was a super-spreader event led the city’s public health officials to cancel the parades associated with Mardi Gras in 2021.
label: Description
content: W. Patrick Bynum, a resident of Florida, was in New Orleans during the March 2020 Mardi Gras. Mr. Bynum attended the Endymion parade. Founded in 1967, Endymion is one of the “super-krewes” and traditionally has the largest parade during Mardi Gras. As host of Samedi Gras (“Fat Saturday”), Endymion brings together large crowds of about 20,000 to 30,000. The hat that Mr. Bynum collected was from a specific float (the Moulin Rouge float) and the #18B designates where his beads were assigned to be tossed along the parade route.
label: Description
content: Mr. Bynum re-purposed the cap to create a mask which he used for a few weeks. The mask was created in the wake of the N95 mask shortages and provides a dramatic illustration of how Americans demonstrated extraordinary ingenuity in creating masks for themselves and their families, using objects that they had on hand.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Louisiana, New Orleans
topic: label: decorative motif; used
content: Carnivals
label: general subject association; used
content: COVID-19 (Disease)
label: decorative motif; commemorated
content: Memorabilia
label: associated subject
content: Infectious diseases
label: associated subject
content: Public Health
label: associated subject
content: 2019-nCoV disease
label: associated subject
content: Disease prevention
label: associated subject
content: 2019 novel coronavirus disease
label: related event
content: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-2023
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of W. Patrick Bynum
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2021.0160.01
label: catalog number
content: 2021.0160.01
label: accession number
content: 2021.0160
objectType: label: Object Name
content: face mask
label: Object Name
content: baseball cap
label: Object Type
content: Baseball Cap
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: polyester; cotton; metal; foam; plastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 15.2 cm x 20 cm x 19 cm; 5 31/32 in x 7 7/8 in x 7 15/32 in