10 Utterly Creepy Historical Masks - Loudoun County Public ...

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10 Utterly Creepy Historical Masks

S. GRANT MAY 7, 2014 The varied and unusual things we've designed to cover our faces throughout the years are astonishing and more than a little strange. Stare at images of these masks long enough and you're bound to get the heebie-jeebies.

10Dirt-Eater Mask

Photo credit: Fabrice Monteiro

Dirt eating (geophagy) was relatively common among slaves in the 16th?19th centuries. Many had picked up the habit in West Africa, where geophagy was so widespread that favored varieties of dirt were even gathered and traded. Slave owners supposed this practice was unhealthy and were told by physicians that it would give their slaves depression, stomachaches, dropsy, poor appetite, shortness of breath, and vertigo. So, in an attempt to protect their "property," slave

owners outfitted the dirt-eaters with disturbing, mouth-blocking masks that they had to wear even while laboring in humid, dangerously hot conditions. Turns out, there's no real consensus on whether or not moderate geophagy is harmful. So, this so-called "cure" was nothing but torture. (These masks may also have been designed to prevent slaves from consuming the crops they harvested.)

9Madame Rowley's Toilet Mask

Other than peddling false hope, there's nothing inherently sinister about this mask. Still, it has a Hannibal Lecter?like appearance that definitely brings out the creep factor. Madame Rowley's "Toilet Mask" was a beauty treatment in the 1890s that promised to beautify, bleach, and preserve the complexion of the wearer. Madame Rowley thought there was real science behind her invention and evenhad it patented. According to the patent, users were to put the mask on while they slept and allow perspiration to "soften and clarify the skin by relieving the pores and the superficial circulation." To us, it seems like a good way to get a pruney face and possibly develop a skin fungus.

8Splatter Masks

Photo credit: Gaius Cornelius

Although these masks look like some type of medieval torture device, they were actually worn for protection by British tank operators at the 1917 Battle of Cambrai in World War I (one of the first major tank battles in history). Back then, tank engineering was in its infancy, and the vehicles weren't nearly as formidable as they are today. They only moved about as fast as a person could walk, broke down constantly, and could be destroyed with heavy artillery. This meant anyone inside the tank was highly susceptible to gunfire, fiery shards of metal, and other shrapnel. Even under light fire, the tank would spit rivets and chips of lead paint at the occupants' faces. The leather and chainmail masks served as the face's last line of defense against this barrage of bullets and explosions. Incidentally, the Germans were at first highly intimidated by the enormous tanks and, undoubtedly, the masked drivers. But, after seeing how ineffective the tanks were, the Germans ridiculed them and so didn't develop their own tanks until much later in the war.

7Baby Gas Masks

While gas masks on adults are creepy enough, they're nowhere near as eerie as baby gas masks. In fact, the World War I and II baby versions looked more like helmets, which gave the infants a scuba-diving alien appearance. Not to mention, it's just depressing we live in a world where babies actually need gas masks. If these things look incredibly cumbersome, that's because they were. For the device to work, an adult had to continually push the manual air pump--something that seems like it would be difficult to do in a state of emergency. In the US, children were given Mickey Mouse gas masks. Although these masks were supposed to be less scary for kids, they are arguably more nightmarish than the regular versions. We just imagine a gang of children wearing these and staring us down with their blank, glass eyes. In addition to masks suited for every man, woman, and child, there were alsoversions for Fido. Yes, even dogs had to be ready to go into battle under any circumstances. Plus, having a complete set of human and pet masks made for some pretty cool family photos.

6Death Masks

Maybe it's the fact that the plaster once encased a dead person's head or that we're viewing the expression of a lifeless face, but whatever the reason, death masks are downright freaky--yet, they have been quite popular throughout history. The practice of making death masks has been around since ancient times and was common well into the 20th century. People used them as models for sculpting, for forensic purposes, for religious ceremonies, and simply as mementos. Generally, physicians were in charge of creating the casts, and they made sure to do so within the first few hours of a person's death (before bloating and rigor mortis set in).

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