As the tuberculosis epidemic continued in the late 1800s, the theory of fresh air and nature as a cure for spread far and wide. This resulted in the construction of sanatoriums, facilities to give supportive care to TB patients—specifically, rest and fresh air because no other treatment was known. Patients would be sent to live in sanatoriums for years at a time, which created an entire subculture surrounding these facilities. There were many children who spent much of their childhoods there.

Patients would have to surrender their rights to undergo treatment and were forced to lay in reclining chairs, outside, with blankets piled on top of them so they could breathe the fresh air and stay warm. The resort-like characteristics promoted relaxation but was always in the shadow of death and disease.

Once antibiotics were discovered, tuberculosis could be cured almost instantly, and the need for sanatoriums disappeared.