Today, the Somerset village where I live held its annual Village Day. The subject was Writhlington and the Second World War. I noticed this child's gas mask. It was known as the Mickey Mouse mask, but looks nothing like the cartoon character. The bright colours and name were used to lessen the frightening purpose of the mask - to protect against poison gas attacks by the Germans.
Our American allies produced a Mickey Mouse mask for their children and it really did look like Mickey! If anything, this one is even more sinister. Click on the title of this post for a link to photos and a history of the US version.
