![]() ![]() …Very few of the Mickey Mouse gas masks survived. Unlike many WW2 collectibles, you won’t likely see any of these masks for sale on Ebay. It became an old idea whose time had passed. When the war ended, further desire for the mask vanished. Mickey Mouse Gas Masks were distributed to senior officials and others during the war as keepsakes. …Thankfully, no chemical attacks occurred in the United States. Of course, celebrity endorsements helped, as usual! Here’s Charlie McCarthy getting his own Mickey 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. In tests, with proper coaching and good salesmanship by the leader, young children could be induced to wear the gas mask for extended periods. Ultimately, the Office of Civil Defense bought the M2 Noncombatant Gas Mask for small children to protect them from chemical agents. …The Mickey Mouse Gas Mask was designed for small children in a valiant attempt to give them something that would work and still be fun. This would reduce the fear associated with wearing a gas mask and hopefully, improve their wear time and, hence, survivability. 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. Porter, Chief of the Chemical Warfare Service.Īfter approval of the CWS, Sun Rubber Products Company produced sample masks for review. ![]() 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. But by and large, most went the way of the 8-track– obsolete and therefore discarded.On January 7th, 1942, one month after Pearl Harbor, T.W. After the war, the military distributed some of them to senior officials as keepsakes. Want a mask? Sorry, but they are nearly impossible to find. Roughly 1,000 of these were made, and thankfully, they were never used, as the United States was never hit with a chemical attack. Children were to carry it around and wear it “as part of a game” in order to make the mask emotionally comfortable, with the goal of getting children to don the protective gear quickly and leave it on. Walk, a one-time instructor at the US Army Reserve Command, the mask was designed to be a toy of sorts, but with a practical side. ![]() The solution: Mickey Mouse - in gas mask form.Īccording to Major Robert D. But the masks were made for adults, and not only did they not fit young children, but they were scary devices which would be hard to get a child to use anyway. Isolated geographically from the war, this seemed unlikely previously, but with the United States now an active participant in the Allies’ efforts, the risk became more and more real.Īs part of America’s domestic security efforts, the government issued and distributed gas masks to the population of Hawaii. The United States’ entry into battle increased the threat which the nation had, other than Pearl Harbor, avoided namely, that Axis powers may launch assaults on American soil. On December 7, 1941, Japanese pilots bombed Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into World War II. ![]()
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