History of the Gas Mask
The gas mask as we know it today evolved from inventions over
time that were intended for use by deep sea divers, firefighters
and mine workers. A popular misconception about the gas mask was
that it was invented by Garrett A. Morgan in 1914. Morgan's
invention didn't resemble anything remotely like today's mask
and was simply a hood with a breathing tube that hung to the
floor so a firefighter could draw breath from the lower, cleaner
layers of air while fighting a fire. It was later adapted for
mine rescues where the tubes could be manipulated to avoid
flooded mine tunnels or gas filled pockets. The question of who
invented the gas mask is to this day not easily answered.
WW1 definitely started the mass production of modern gas masks
designed to protect soldiers from chemical attack. Without WW1
and the use of chlorine and mustard gas as a weapon by the
German Army, gas masks would have not have taken up such a
prominent place in the history of the world.
Here is a list of some of the inventions and patents issued to
a long line of gas mask inventors throughout history. In 1848 a
US Patent was issued to one Lewis P. Haslett for a device
constructed to exclude smoke and other solid particles from the
breathed air and gas mask manufacturing began in earnest in the
United States. In 1854 Scottish chemist John Stenhouse invented
a simple mask that used charcoal to filter noxious gases. In
1871 and 1874 two British inventors produced devices that
removed solid particles and noxious gases from the air using a
full hood over the head and tubes connected to a canister of
slightly pressurized oxygen. In 1914 Garrett Morgan invented a
device that gained national prominence when it was used to
rescue 32 mineworkers trapped far beneath the surface in flooded
mining caverns.
All of these devices came together on that fateful day in 1915
in France when chemical weapons were used on a large scale for
the first time. From that moment on, the gas mask was no longer
a safety device just for firefighters and mine workers. From
that moment on the gas mask was a crucial element in the fight
for freedom. Who invented the gas mask? You might say it was
necessity - after all, she is the mother of all invention.