The Gas Mask

Hey everyone! Hope you're all doing great. Today I'd thought we'd check in with a little blog post about one of my favourite artifacts we have at the museum.

In the Mount Pearl room, we have a gas mask on display that was used by workers at Lester's Farm during the twentieth century. This might seem odd, but when you know the whole story, it makes much more sense.

During the First World War, the Germans were known for their use of poisonous gas against allied forces. These gases caused effects that were pretty well torture, only to end off with a very slow and painful death. Because the First World War was the first conflict of its type, no one had been prepared for this. What they did know, though, was that they needed a solution.

First they tried cotton wool wrapped in muslin, then came the Black Veil Respirator, which was a cotton pad soaked in an absorbent solution to block toxic gases. Cluny MacPherson, who was a doctor in Newfoundland, wanted to improve on the Black Veil, so he went on to create a gas mask made out of chemical absorbing fabric that covered the entire head. After presenting the idea to the War Office Anti-Gas department, MacPherson was appointed to the War Office for Protection against Poisonous Gases, and his British Smoke Hood became a popular method of protection, and an early prototype of the gas masks that we use today.

The mask on display at Admiralty House is a later version of what would have been used during the war and what British soldiers would have worn, and it managed to make its way back to Newfoundland so farmers could remain protected when fumigating their barns.

Farming and war don't seem like two things that have all that much in common, but Mount Pearl was affected greatly by both and it's cool to see an artifact that could be useful for either!

This is one of the many cool items we have here on display at the museum, and if you haven't already, make sure you come see us and check it out!