[World War One Small Box Gas Mask]

World War One-era "small box respirator" gas mask, consisting of a canvas or cloth face piece, with inset glass or resin eye lenses, and straps that wrap around the back of the head. The front of the mask has a valve located behind a cloth-covered tube that goes over the mouth and attaches to a small yellow metal box containing activated charcoal (made of peach pits or the pits from other stone fruits). The wearer would have breathed only through the mouth, inhaling air scrubbed clean by the charcoal in the box, and had their nose squeezed shut by a clip inside the mask.
Date: [1914..1918]
Creator: unknown
System: The UNT Digital Library