Walt Disney showing the sketch of the Mickey Mouse gas mask to Major General William Porter on January 8, 1942.Ĭhild sports a Mickey Mouse gas mask during WWII. In addition to its child-friendly appearance, the Mickey Mouse mask was designed to fit a smaller head and weighed less than the adult gas mask. The mask pictured here is housed in The United States Army Chemical Corps Museum, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.ĭisney's Mickey Mouse gas mask was designed to eliminate children's fear of wearing the chemical warfare preventative device. Mickey Mouse Gas Mask at the 45th Infantry Museum.ĭuring WWII Walt Disney helped to design a Mickey Mouse gas mask to protect children against chemical warfare. Now the threat of a chemical attack seemed very real. For the first time in the war an attack had taken place on American soil. It all came about during WW2, a month after the Pearl Harbour attack. This would reduce the fear associated with wearing a gas mask and hopefully, improve their wear time and, hence, survivability. The Disney Mickey Mouse Gas Mask is a strange entry in the long and successful cannon of Disney themed merchandise. The mask was designed so children would carry it and wear it as part of a game. Other comic book character designs were to follow, depending on the success of the Mickey Mouse mask. After approval of the CWS, Sun Rubber Products Company produced sample masks for review. Porter, Chief of the Chemical Warfare Service. This design of the Mickey Mouse Gas Mask for children was presented to Major General William N. Smith, Jr., the owner of the Sun Rubber Company, and his designer, Dietrich Rempel, with Walt Disney’s approval introduced a protective mask for children. Smith, Jr., the owner of the Sun Rubber Company, and his designer, Dietrich Rempel, with Walt Disney’s approval introduced a protective. You see, Walt wanted to check the progress of a gas mask he’d recently designed. But it's still pretty creepy.On January 7th, 1942, one month after Pearl Harbor, T.W. On January 7th, 1942, one month after Pearl Harbor, T.W. The year was 1942, Walt Disney flew to Washington and met with defense and chemical warfare officials with another one of his great ideas. The Walt Disney Archives, Burbank, California, has a facepiece without ears, lenses, or a canister, and a mask owned by the founder of the Sun Rubber Company was on display at the Summit County (Ohio) Historical Society’s "Toys Made in Summit County" exhibit in 1982. The 45th Infantry Division Museum, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, has a production specimen on permanent display with other gas masks in the combat support area of the museum. The US Army Chemical Museum at Fort McClellan, Alabama, has a hand-made prototype. It did not resemble the cartoon character but it used the red and blue, like the American version and kept the name. Very few of the Mickey Mouse gas masks survived. This object is the British Mickey Mouse gas mask. In fact, production had to be curtailed early due to the vast quantity produced. Overall, production of the Noncombatant Gas Masks (and in fact, all gas masks) was one of the most successful production programs of the war. The Sun Rubber Company produced approximately 1,000 Mickey Mouse gas masks and earned an Army-Navy ‘E’ for excellence in wartime production in 1944. The Mickey Mouse Gas Mask was produced as part of the war production program. This would reduce the fear associated with wearing a gas mask and hopefully, improve their wear time and, hence, survivability. Walk, a former Weapons of Mass Destruction Individual and Instructor Training Officer at the US Army Reserve Command: The mask was designed so children would carry it and wear it as part of a game. Originally released just one month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, to encourage children to protect themselves from chemical attacks and to do it in god damn style.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |