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AEF Gasmasks & Respirators 1917 to 1919


world war I nerd
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WWI Nerd -

 

Here's another example of the Tissot gas mask being worn by a Poilu that I found on the internet:

 

-Chuck

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  • 2 months later...
Doughboy Medic

Hello,

Is there documentary evidence that the French M-2 gas mask was part of the equipment issued to medical teams i.e. litter bearers" during recovery efforts? Photos show sanitary troopers caryring the M-2 but were there extra ones provided for the wounded?

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  • 2 months later...

Nice find! Too bad about the hose though; out of all the masks I have come across, only one hose, on an English mask, had the proper shape.

How is the mask itself?

TR

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jayhawkhenry

Nice find! Too bad about the hose though; out of all the masks I have come across, only one hose, on an English mask, had the proper shape.

How is the mask itself?

TR

.

 

The hose looks worse in the photo than in hand. It is still fairly round & soft. The mask is very pliable with clear lenses and good straps. The exhaust valve, mouth piece & nose clips are all pliable as well. I have some masks that are so brittle you hate to touch them. The goggles were in the bag as well.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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.

 

The hose looks worse in the photo than in hand. It is still fairly round & soft. The mask is very pliable with clear lenses and good straps. The exhaust valve, mouth piece & nose clips are all pliable as well. I have some masks that are so brittle you hate to touch them. The goggles were in the bag as well.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

That's great then.

 

The head bands on my English model are pretty well stretched out. I plan on displaying the mask on a torso w/head but not entirely sure it will hold up well enough. I'll have to have a plan B at hand. Another mask I have has better bands but every time I pick it up it rains that black powder, or the old rubber I presume it to be. I saw on the interweb a way to remove the rubber entirely to get the mask into a more "usable" state...

 

I dig the goggles...great find as well...

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  • 2 months later...

Good day,

 

I thought I might add to this topic by posting a pic of the gas mask I am currently restoring.

 

Fortunately, some time ago I had come across a satchel in excellent condition with a filter in similar condition.

I also had for some years a rather pliable mask with a poor flattened hose.

Then recently I found a mask in the typical petrified condition with a nice round hose.

 

Here is the result after putting it all together. All that is left for me to do is wire the components back together then bind the connections with some suitable tape.

 

TR

 

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  • 3 months later...
world war I nerd

I recently found this 6 minute You Tube video showing how US small box respirators were made. If you're interested in the WW I US gasmask, beginning at the 1:04 minute mark it's worth a look:

 

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  • 8 months later...

Many years back I got a WW1 Russian gas mask in a grouping from an Engineer from Michigan. It was excellent. Very pliable but when he packed it away he pinched the mask in between the top and bottom of the canister. One other cool item that came with it was a purple polar bear patch.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello, firstly I wanted to say I think that it's wonderful that people are finally beginning to put out a timeline of American-designed respirators during the First World War and world war 1 nerd has compiled an overall amazing list of research. And I do hope I'm not taken in a pretentious light, but I wanted to contribute to the thread by pointing out a few slight errors and interesting details when it comes down to the American development of a mask using the Tissot principle.

 

- Photo No. 96: No major error in description (other than saying the A.T. used the same angletube as the RFK, which it did not), but I'd thought I'd point out the photograph is of an early 'Type A' Akron-Tissot, distinguished by it's 5-point C.E.-style head harness and bulging eyepiece platforms.

The 'Type B' A.T. (featured in the inlay) is the more common model which differed by using a 6-point harness like the RFK, as well as the facepiece being solidly molded by dipping an aluminum curing form into liquid rubber until sufficient thickness (approximately 2mm) was built up, the rubber semi-cured, the faceblank cut to size with harness tabs, stockinette layers and rubber reinforcement around the edge adhered, the faceblank cured fully, and the rest of the components assembled. The 'Type A', which starts off as a 'calendered' sheet of uncured black rubber is worked on a flat building form with raised circles to form the eyelens platforms, then the entire sheet is die-cut with a single chin seam, similar to the KTM, except instead of sewing the chin seam, the rubber is kneaded together along the seam while it is still doughy before semi-curing, cementing on the reinforcements, fully curing, assembly, etc.

- Photo No.97: The first two photos are erroneously labelled as an A.T., when in reality, they are an experimental model known as the 'American-Tissot', this being the late variant originally designed by the Bureau of Mines to improve the first American-Tissot which used an upwards-facing flutter-valve, but re-improved by William Chauncey Geer, Chief Chemist for the B.F. Goodrich Company as well as Chairman of the Gas Defense Division of the War Service Committee, who designed the ASBR/Training Mask and most of the experimental American-Tissot masks leading up to the A.T.

The American-Tissot series is identified by being made of calendered sheet 'gum' rubber and using crimped eyepiece frames like the French Tissot mask. The rubber was die-cut into various patches, which were worked into the shape of the facepiece and cured as one piece, sometimes utilizing patches of black rubber for extra reinforcement. This was before Geer learned it was better to use stockinette to reinforce this early, fragile rubber.

The photo on the far right is in fact a proper Akron-Tissot, Model of 1918, Type 'B', except it is essential to point out, this example has an experimental type of eyepiece frame known as the 'Besse Eyepiece' (Named for Lt. Col. A.L. Besse, a CWS officer in charge of contracting the various companies to produce gas mask parts), which was a 'C'-shaped metal ring which encapsulated the rubber over the lens like a clamshell, with an additional, shorter half-ring to lock the frame in place. Many of the A.T. masks can be seen in period photos and footage utilizing these eypieces, but were never produced with them as far as I know. In fact, there are more period photos of A.T.'s with Besse Eyepieces than there are with C.E.-type pressed olive lenses.

 

- Photo No.100: It should be mentioned there are earlier variants of the K.T. Mask which used Yellow 'H'-Type Filters and used either Olive Pressed C.E. lenses or a unique threaded eyepiece, reminescent of the postwar MIA1 Mask.

It should also be noted that W.C. Geer and his associates were not pleased when the army began to play favorites with the corset-maker's design, even going as far to providing false and/or biased testimony regarding the K.T.'s efficiency, reporting that, quote -

"THE KOPS MASK LEAKS IN SPITE OF ANY TENSION WHICH MAY BE PLACED UPON ITS BANDS. ITS MANUFACTURE SHOULD, THEREFORE, BE STOPPED IMMEDIATELY." - [R.G. Pearce and W.C. Geer's 'Findings' on the Kops-Tissot from "Presentation of the Goodrich-Lakeside Mask: A Study of the Principles Involced in Mask Design" (1918)]

 

- Photo No.104: Neither of these photos are of a K.T.M., but ther are simply another Kops-Tissot with the normal black pressed brass lenses, which granted were recycled onto the K.T.M.

- Photo(s) No.105-106: Firstly, this is is what you meant to label as the K.T.M., and in fact this is the only surviving wartime K.T.M. that I've personally seen. Most other examples, such as those from the collections of Bart Wilkus (LMaG) and Johannes 'JJ' Möller (Gasmasklexicon) use the proper wartime blue MI Filter Filters, but the facepieces are off postwar MSA Burrell 'Kops-Type', masks, which feature chromed lens frames instead of laquered black, rubber bands on the hoses instead of plain tape, and most of all, Akron-Tissot-style deflector tubes, rather than the Kops-Tissot-style deflector 'pouch' of the wartime examples. If you're able to link me the full resolution copies of these photos, it would be very much appreciated for my archives.

Secondly, the proposed 'Victory Mask' was said to simply be a K.T.M. with a facepiece of solidly molded rubber, rather than requiring a vulnerable chin seam. But in fact, there is no evidence I've found to suggest they ever existed and in fact 'Victory Mask' may just be a psudeonym for the K.T.M./Model of 1919 Mask, seeing that it was approved for adoption right as the war ended. I'm more willing to bet IF the Victory Mask concept existed on any level, it was not rejected due to the end of the war, but merely because injection molding gas masks would not become a thing in the U.S. until the early 1930's, and bad memories of the complications dip-molding the 'Type B' Akron-Tissot Facepieces probably would cut a contract for any sort of concept like that short.

- Photo No. 107: Mk.I is the designation for the MI Series Service Masks in service with the U.S. Navy. They differ by the fact the Navy Mk.I's use coil spring harnesses while the Army MI Series uses the MII elastic head harness.

 

- Photo No.112: This is a photo of the Goodrich-Tissot Navy Head Canister from February of 1918. It was a basic American-Tissot, Model of 1917 (Late Bureau of Mines Type) with the black stock reinforced facepiece that blanked off the hose stem of the angletube and exhanged the two internal deflectors for a peculiar forehead deflector tube, leading to a cut-down box canister on the back of a revolutionary mesh fabric 'skullcap' head harness. It competed against early variants of what would become the Mk.II Navy Gas Mask (Head Canister Type) and lost due to a supposedly short filter life. This mask would later be revised into the Goodrich-Lakeside Mask, after the outlet valve was upgraded and the facepiece upgraded to that much like the Akron-Tissot.

- Photo No.118: It seems most, if not everyone in this photo is wearing the Navy Diaphragm Gas Mask Mk.I, an adaptation of the Army MI and MIA1 Diaphragm masks by again, replacing the elastic harness with that of a coil spring type.

Photos below:
- Top: A quick illustration outlining the facepiece variants of the American-Tissot, Model of 1917 (Late BoM Type) and the Akron-Tissot, Model of 1917
- Bottom: A Richardson, Flory, Kops and Akron-Tissot, Model of 1918 ('Type A') in my personal gas mask collection. The RFK mask is special because it is Example No.1 as seen in Christopher T. Carey's book, 'Chemical and Biological Defense Respirators', an Illustrated History', as indicated by the general wear and the '228T 148' stamp matching Carey's example. The Akron-Tissot is special because not only is it one of only 2 known 'Type A' facepieces existing, but my example was in fact issued, hinted at by a user's name on the carrier as well as the original yellow Type 'H' filter later being replaced with a green Type 'J'.

I would like to post more photographs from my personal archives, but it has been a while since I have used forums and I'm still getting past the file size limitations (most of my CWS archive period photos are 8484x5809 pixels!). If this has helped anyone, I'll continue to make posts here and share whatever extra knowledge I can provide the thread, not wishing to intrude, of course.

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It seems I have missed a photo, but Photo No. 134 does not feature a Kops-Tissot-Monro or "Victory Mask" as it's often been incorrectly labelled in this thread, but in fact shows an Akron-Tissot, Model of 1918 with the 'Type A' Facepiece, as noted by the 'bulging' eyepiece platforms.

The suit also appears to be the same pattern of early 'permiable' gas suit known as the 'Simplexene Fighting Suit', comprised of an internal layer of dry cotton cloth with the outer cheesecloth layer being impregnated with Rosin Oil, Rosin, and Paraffin Oil for mustard gas protection. It was intended to be the chemical suit issued to every typical doughboy (as implied by the name 'Fighting Suit'), while specialized mustard decontamination squads got impermiable rubberized anti-gas suits.

 

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world war I nerd

Duke Nougat3d, there's absolutely nothing pretentious about the corrections/clarifications you posted above. The pair of posts you added are exactly the sort of think I'm always hoping forum members (and viewers) will add to any topic that I begin … many thanks for broadening everyone's knowledge on the subject of WW I and post WW I gasmasks. It would seem that your personal knowledge on WW I era gasmasks far exceeds mine … Feel free to add more information or better photographs.

 

My posts are far from being the last word on any topic. In fact, often, the inspiration for many of my posts is my personal thirst for more knowledge on whatever the given topic happens to be. Each post frequently starts out in my mind as merely a pathetic plea for more information from folks who know more than I on any given topic.

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Duke Nougat3d, there's absolutely nothing pretentious about the corrections/clarifications you posted above. The pair of posts you added are exactly the sort of think I'm always hoping forum members (and viewers) will add to any topic that I begin … many thanks for broadening everyone's knowledge on the subject of WW I and post WW I gasmasks. It would seem that your personal knowledge on WW I era gasmasks far exceeds mine … Feel free to add more information or better photographs.

 

My posts are far from being the last word on any topic. In fact, often, the inspiration for many of my posts is my personal thirst for more knowledge on whatever the given topic happens to be. Each post frequently starts out in my mind as merely a pathetic plea for more information from folks who know more than I on any given topic.

Much appreciated, glad I can contribute. ^^ I am still figuring out how I can link images from an external source so I can post full resolution photos, but in the meantime, I thought I should mention that after today, I am now in possession of both a Type A (left) and Type B (right) Akron-Tissot, Model of 1918.

 

In fact, it is the same example featured in earlier posts in this thread that belonged to Dan-Retro. It has been loaned to me by a collector friend of mine whom bought it off him and has lent it to me for study and to remove rust on the flutter-guard and screws.

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This image shows where I get the 'Type A' and 'Type B' nomenclature for the early and late Akron-Tissot facepieces - after a 2-digit number (usually 22 or similar), there is a letter. on my "earlier" A.T., it is an 'A', and on the "later" A.T., it is a 'B', and these A/B markings have been consistently stamped this way on all examples I've seen.

If you have any A.T. or Tissot-related questions, feel free to ask away!
Again, I apologize for not showing more photos of markings, details, etc - the file limitations are troublesome.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm going to try and post as much information of the development of U.S. Tissot Masks as I can, there'll be a lot of posts, so I hope you can bear with my dumping.

 

U.S. Development and Domestication of the Tissot Gas Mask

Section I. - Introduction and Background

 

Foreword - The development of the modern protective mask owes a lot to the introduction of ‘Tissot’ Principle, and to the men who ushered it into being, however it was a solution so simple, the execution was rather overthought, despite the path being under the developers’ noses. Do note that all information in this post may be revised by any potential information discovered which may disprove previously stated facts, feel free to contribute or inform me of such oversights. I do not own the rights to any photos in this thread except those stated as my own and any may be credited request of the rightful owners.

 

The chemical weapons scare that was kindled during the midst of the First World War brought a panicked eye for chemical protection back to the stone ages, despite the abundance of perhaps more advanced apparatus on the industrial-commercial market. As such, developing the modern gas mask had now begun anew - there was a clean slate to work from and progress during the war brought about many novel concepts in respirator design. One of the more noteworthy designs of this era came in the form of the Appareil Respiratoire Tissot Mle.1916 or the ‘Tissot Apparatus’.

 

Dr. Jules Tissot was a French biologist who had made some developments in the medical field developing spirometer equipment in 1904 (spirometer valve with nasal tubes pictured below) and a year later, an industrial respirator, using presumably a similar valve layout of that of his spirometer. During wartime, Dr. Tissot set to work on reconfiguring the layout of his spirometer valve for a new type of gas-protective mask for the French Army - his end result was the Mle.1916 Appareil Respiratoire Tissot (Grand Modèle), which instead of the incoming air entering through the nose, the two tubes were fixed under the lenses, so that the inhaled air would be drawn over the inner surface to prevent condensation - a common issue with all masks in service around the world at the time. The facepiece was made of a grey or black pure 'gum' sheet rubber, cut into templates, arranged into shape while uncured on a building form, and then vulcanized so that the seams would fuse together as a solid mask.
A brazed brass valve angletube assembly took in the fresh air from a large, back-mounted canister via a non-corrugated rubber hose across the left shoulder and drew the air over the eyepieces. The mask was notorious for it’s fragile gum rubber facepiece which often tore, poorly constructed lens frames which often broke, and it’s overall weight from the oversized canister. At the same time, the mask was noted for its comfort due to the lack of mouthpiece and noseclip, as well as the long duration of time the canister provided (while also being a risk to the user due to the acidic chemicals it contained) - that being up to 50 hours of protection in average gas concentrations, and 30 hours in heavy concentrations. The mask was adopted on April 29, 1916 after tests at the Lebeau laboratory January 8th and 14th of the same year, and was restricted to ‘fixed’ infantry roles such as medics, machine-gunners, engineers, and artillerymen, due to the mask being too fragile to trust in the hands of the average infantryman.
A new development was made on November of 1916 after extensive experimentation with various canister fillings and prefilters - a smaller (albeit still unreasonably heavy) canister was developed for the Appareil Tissot, resulting in the Mle.1917 ‘Petit Modèle’ Tissot. The facepiece was unaltered (that is until late 1917, when facepieces made of more durable linseed oiled canvas began to appear) from the previous model and was used alongside the ‘Grand Modèle Mle.1916’ until the Armistice, where around 690,000 Tissot Masks of all types had been produced. The U.S.’s entry into the war on April 6, 1917 left them completely unprepared for chemical attacks and sought whatever masks France and the United Kingdom had to offer.

Pictured Below: Side, Front, and Interior Views of the French Appareil Respiratoire Tissot Mle.1917. Notice the rubber-padded wire spacer/chin rest used to reinforce the thin mask from collapsing upon inhalation. [source: U.S. National Archives]

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U.S. Development and Domestication of the Tissot Gas Mask

Section II. - The AEF is Introduced to the Tissot Mask

 

At some point in 1917, the U.S. were given a ‘small number’ of Mle.1917 Tissot masks to utilize and experiment with, as stated previously in the thread. Like the French, the masks for the most part were found unsatisfactory for general infantry use due to the fragile facepiece and clumsy canister, however its comfort and allowance of free speech was highly sought after by those who got to use it and by those who knew of it and were stuck with the typical ‘Small Box Respirator’ masks. While the U.S. continued to issue and develop ‘Box Respirator’ style masks, the drive for a domestic clone of Tissot’s mask was underway in late 1917.

 

The man called upon to lead this development was a Dr. William Chauncey Geer, a Cornell University Graduate of 1905, then the Chief Chemist at the B.F. Goodrich Rubber Company. During wartime, he also held a position as the Chairman of the Gas Defense Division of the War Service Committee, and served the newly-founded Chemical Warfare Service in developing new protective masks for the United States Army, even being in charge of the first domestic copes of the British Small Box Respirator (ASBR/Training Mask). Geer would see a long and miserable journey, fouled by bureaucracy and pickiness on behalf of the U.S. Army attempting to get any of his designs adopted.

 

Meanwhile, as mentioned before, a good number of French Mle.1917 Tissot Masks found their way into service with the AEF, often being delegated to less strenuous occupations, such as ambulance drivers, radio/field communications teams, decontamination personnel, artillerymen, etc. Evidence posted prior in this thread suggests the mask was even attempted to be fit into a basic infantry role, but ultimately rejected due to the listed inconveniences.

 

Pictured Below: Left - An AEF Ambulance Driver in 1917 wears the French Appareil Tissot Mle.1917 with an M15 'Adrian' Helmet. Right: Dr. William Chauncey Geer, c.1907.
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U.S. Development and Domestication of the Tissot Gas Mask

Section III. - American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Geer Type

 

America’s first attempt at taking the French Mle.1917 Tissot and reverse-engineering it into an SBR-sized assembly came on October of 1917, developed by the B.F. Goodrich Company under the direct supervision and assistance of W.C. Geer, of whom this type is named for. Like the French model, it utilized a seamed facepiece and harness of (this time brown-red with black stock reinforcements round the eyepieces) calendered gum-rubber sheet vulcanized as one piece, an upwards-facing ‘flutter’-type outlet valve on an angletube/housing, and of course, the all important tissot deflector tubes. The similarities to the French mask end here, as the American-Tissot utilized an American SBR ‘Type H’ Filter and 11″ hose on the chest, it’s own, distintive crimped eyelenses, internally-glued deflector tubes, and a die-cast aluminum angletube rather than one of brazed copper.
This particular model did not get too far in development, as it was likely realized the valve arrangement would be prone to letting any condensation, salivation, mucous, and other foreign matter down the hose and into the filter, rather than expired through the valve where it would cause no harm or degradation to the protective capabilities of the mask. The subsequent model which was improved by the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Mines (of thich Geer had strong Connections with) took direct influence from this initial mask and further developed it, cutting the test life of this U.S. Tissot clone reletively short.
Pictured Below: Front and Side Profile Views of the American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Geer Type. [source: U.S. National Archives]
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U.S. Development and Domestication of the Tissot Gas Mask

Section IV. - American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Bureau of Mines Type (Early)

 

The next amendment to the American-Tissot Model of 1917 came under the assistance of the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Mines sometime between October of 1917 and April 1918. The general facepiece arrangment and hardware remained the same, however the angletube was re-cast to integrate the hose in front of the outlet valve, which was now positioned in a downwards position, as to permit the drainage of fluids and moisture which may accumulate in the mask. The outlet valve was also protected by a humorously gigantic guard bracket, made of stamped steel sheet and secured to the angletube with a rubber band.

The BoM American-Tissot's faceblank also differed from more frequent types later re-designed by W.C. Geer and the B.F. Goodrich Facility in the fact the calendered 'black stock' patch reinforcing the eyepieces was vulcanized inside the facepiece, instead of over the outside, as well as the use of a non-elasticated top strap, rather than producing all 5 harness straps from layered 'gum' rubber. Like the Geer Type, the BoM American-Tissot had a relatively short trial period before being once again corrected on various design flaws. This facepiece configuration would serve as the basis for all models to follow.

 

Pictured Below: Front and Side Profile Views of the American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Bureau of Mines Type (Early). [source: U.S. National Archives]

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U.S. Development and Domestication of the Tissot Gas Mask

Section IV-a. - American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Bureau of Mines Type (Late)

 

Sometime before or around April of 1918, The American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Bureau of Mines Type was upgraded by W.C. Geer and the B.F. Goodrich Co. This rendition of the American-Tissot came the closest to being adopted by the AEF, and even saw minor usage stateside where absolute protection was needed, such as in Gas Production Plants at Edgewood Arsenal. This facepiece, as stated before went through the most changes and renditions compared to all other American-Tissot or Akron-Tissot variations.

 

As previously mentioned, the construction of the harness and application of the 'black stock' reinforcements was alike that of the Geer Type American-Tissot. In this model, the die-cast aluminum angletube was improved and simplified and the sheet metal guard for the 'Flutter' Valve was also improved, being reduced in size and given a steel clip for retaining, rather than a rubber band. This design would prevent the flutter guard bracket from being easily torn or knocked loose.

 

In April of 1918, the facepiece was also redesigned a final time for the standard infantry model, this time given an outer layer of calendered 'black stock' rubber to reinforce the flimsy red-brown 'gum' rubber used for the entirety of the faceblank. Despite all these changes, all the promise the design held, and all the development setting up the machinery to produce hardware for this model, it was ultimately rejected by the AEF and never saw usage overseas, save for maybe some rear area testing behind the lines.

 

Pictured Below: Front, Side, and Interior Views of the American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Bureau of Mines Type (Late). [source: U.S. National Archives]
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U.S. Development and Domestication of the Tissot Gas Mask

Section IV-b. - American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Bureau of Mines Type (Late)

 

The photos below illustrate the simplicity to which the American-Tissot was donned as opposed to the Box Respirator-type Masks currently in use with the AEF by this point, which took seconds longer to properly don. It should be noted the specimen pictured is the April 1918 pattern with the reinforcing outer layer of 'black stock' rubber. [source: U.S. National Archives]
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The photos below show the various hardware used in assembly of an American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Bureau of Mines Type Mask - 1: Eyepiece Crimping Ring 2: Eyelens 3: Eyepiece Washer 4: Flutter Valve 5: Guard Bracket 6: Guard Retainer Spring 7: Clarifying (Tissot) Tubes 8: Die-Cast Angletube 9: Molded Chin Rest [source: U.S. National Archives]

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The photo below shows the assembled angletube, with breathing hose, chin rest, clarifying tubes, and outlet valve assembly. [source: U.S. National Archives]
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U.S. Development and Domestication of the Tissot Gas Mask

Section V - American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Bureau of Mines (Navy Shoulder Type)

 

Around the same time the April 1918 pattern of BoM American-Tissot was being pushed for a production contract with the U.S. Army, Geer had developed a variant for the U.S. Navy as well. This being the American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Shoulder Type. Documentation is scarce on this particular setup, but evidence seems to suggest this variant was relatively short lived in trials with both the Army and Navy.

Essentially, it was a normal BoM American-Tissot, with the improvement of a left-angled hose stem on the die-cast angletube, so that a longer hose may be lead over the shoulder to a cental, back-mounted canister, with the hopes that it would be less claustrophobic to use in the confines of a ship. The Navy seemed interested in adopting it as a special purpose mask for use against ammonia, but ultimately it was rejected for mass-production after 100 had been procured by the U.S. Navy for testing.

 

Pictured Below: Left - Side Profile View of the American-Tissot, Model of 1917, Navy Shoulder-Type. [source: U.S. National Archives] Right - View of a Soldier (Probably Charles William Maurer) raising a Gas Danger Sign while wearing the American-Tissot Navy Shoulder Type at the American University Experiment Station. [source: Estate of Addie Ruth Maurer]
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U.S. Development and Domestication of the Tissot Gas Mask

Section VI - Whittlesey-Tissot, Model of 1918

April of 1918 seems to have been the year other companies began to catch wind of Geer's work on the American-Tissot. It was at this time, we see a modest attempt by a Dr. Whittlesey of the of the U.S. Rubber Company to develop a mask which not only amends the shortcomings of the BoM American-Tissot, but it also renders the concept easier to produce. The Whittlesey Mask differed from the American-Tissot it is based on by incorporating a faceblank made of thin, stretchy Jersey Weave fabric (called Stockinette) backed with sheet black stock on a calender, before being semi-cured, cut to shape, folded and welded at the chin, and given a final vulcanization with reinforcing strips of black stock around the edges.

This method of production was much simpler to perform instead of lengthy and complicated processes of piecing together gum rubber strips like with the BoM American-Tissot. This mask showed promise with a slightly higher level of comfort and flexibility compared to it’s adversary, and even improved the angletube assembly by incorporating a flutter valve guard bracket similar to that of the late C.E.-Type Box Respirators, making use of existing machinery and hardware. However an apparent flimsiness was noted as the facepiece would collapse during inhalation.

Despite attempts to reinforce the faceblank with ‘stiff reinforcing strips at the cheeks’, the mask was never looked into further past trials. However, the concepts founded in this design would go on to inspire Geer and other manufacturers with its basic principles.

 

Pictured Below: the Whittlesey-Tissot, Model of 1918. Notice the improved, simplified flutter guard bracket with protective cross-guard to prevent wear on the flutter valve. This style of guard bracket would continue to be used on all subsequent Tissot Masks developed in the U.S.

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