Alan Mays' photos with the keyword: germs

This Sani-Phone Hygienic Telephone Discs advertisement is a screen capture from the World Almanac and Encyclopedia, 1912 , p. xiv, which is available via the Internet Archive . For an example of a disc imprinted with a hotel's name, see Hygienic Telephone Disc, Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia, Pa., 1906 :

The Bellevue Stratford, Phila., Pa. Talk through this disc. Hygiene Telephone Disc. A new one for each guest occupying this room. Talk through the Hygienic Telephone Disc and protect yourself from all germ disease. Replace when soiled. U.S. Patent, June 12, 1906. To put on, bend up small corner on line and slide on mouthpiece. Mfg. by Hygienic Telephone Disc Co., Phila., Pa. -------- Worrying about germs and the spread of diseases is nothing new, as this early twentieth-century "Hygienic Telephone Disc" demonstrates. Guests at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel in Philadelphia could place one of these "Sani-Phone" discs--as they were also called--over the mouthpieces of the telephones in their rooms so they wouldn't contract tuberculosis or any other nasty bug. The discs used a wax paper-like film that was sandwiched between two layers of cardboard to keep germs away while letting sound through. For a 1912 advertisement that shows how the disc was placed on the candlestick telephones of the time, see Sani-Phone Hygienic Telephone Discs Ad, World Almanac and Encyclopedia, 1912 (Internet Archive) :

In days of yore, the paper boy , message delivery boy , milkman , coal man , and even the garbage man might give you their holiday greetings! Compliments from the Garbage Man Christmas comes and Christmas goes, With summer rains and winter snows. The garbage man who always goes, Fighting mankind's every foe. He's poor and humble and knows no wealth, But is ever guarding the public health. He works in cheer and knows no fear, Of the deadly germ that is always near. So don't forget him when Christmas comes, To help him make his loved ones dear, With just a little Christmas cheer. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, 1917-1918.