Deyner´s Notes!

⌛ Reading time: 7 minutes

In times of Pandemic common sense dictates that each person must protect themselves by all available means, especially when those Pandemics are generated by infectious agents that are transmitted by air. The common method generally approved and tested to bring some kind of protection to our lives is the use of face masks.

There is an ongoing debate both in scientific community and on a personal level about the effectiveness of wearing face masks to avoid the exposure to infectious agents like Coronavirus(which causes the infection known as Covid19) or influenza virus just to mention some examples. The truth is that face masks with medical and health purposes have been used for a long time mostly to prevent infections transmitted by air.

While most people debate about the effectiveness or not of wearing a face mask in these Pandemic times, history has shown us that face masks have undergone an important evolution trying to provide a better degree of protection to our lives ... in addition to becoming less frightening or creepy and more practical over time.

Let's see then how face masks have evolved over time....with some nice pictures and a lot of interesting history behind...warming up the engines ... here we go!!!

From ancient origins to today's descendants

According to some Internet sources, the earliest recorded face mask-like objects in history date to the 6th century BC. Those images can be found decorating the doors of Persian tombs of important people who lived by that time. Those images depicts some people wearing cloth over their mouths. The use that was given to those artifacts is unknown today but it is considered as the first evidence that in ancient times people wore face masks...somehow. **:)**

Going beyond in space and time we can find some examples in the Asian Continent, especifically in China, a kind of scarf woven with silk and gold threads from the Yuan Dynasty (13th century) is believed to be the earliest item in China that is similar to today's face mask. Also in the same period of time (Yuan Dynasty) according to the record of The Travels of Marco Polo, servants who served the Emperor during meals needed to wear silk scarves to cover their mouths and noses. It was believed that the silk scarves would keep the servants' breath from impacting the smell and taste of the food the Emperor was going to eat.

In medieval Europe in the 14th century, the Black Death spread across all the continent bringing a mass destruction wave. This also greatly promoted the emergence of functional face mask-like objects. In the 16th century, French doctor Charles de Lorme invented the “beak mask”. The mask had glass openings in the eyes and a curved beak shaped like a bird’s beak with straps that held the beak in front of the doctor’s nose. The beak could hold dried flowers (including roses and carnations), herbs (including mint), spices, camphor, or a vinegar sponge. The purpose of the mask was to keep away bad smells which were thought to be the principal cause of the disease, before it was disproved by germ theory.

Fig 1. *16th century plague doctor masks, worn during a Black Death outbreak. (https://vintagenewsdaily.com)*

In addition to the mask, a top hat, shawl, robe, trousers, gloves, shoes and walking sticks made up a complete “beak suit”. It eventually evolved into a terrifying symbol of death due to the rampant extent of the plague.

Fig 2. *A plague doctor in full costume. They use to wear a wide-brimmed leather hat to indicate their profession (https://vintagenewsdaily.com)*

That same century, famous painter Leonardo da Vinci proposed soaking cloth in water and placing it on his face in order to filter out toxic chemicals coming from people's respiratory systems. This effective method is still widely used in fire escape guides today.

In 19th century the design of face masks took a big step forward. Discoveries like the “Brownian motion” back in 1827 by Scottish scientist Robert Brown which theoretically proved the protective effect of masks on dust as well the findings of French biologist, microbiologist and chemist Louis Pasteur proving the presence of bacteria in the air in 1861, made more people pay attention to the design of modern masks.

By that time all the masks designed were closer to gas masks than to face masks as we know them today. In 1848, the mask made by American Lewis Hassley for miners obtained the first patent for a protective mask, which was a milestone in the history of face masks. Later in 1899 a French doctor created a mask made of six layers of gauze and sewed it on the collar of a surgical gown. The doctor only needed to flip the collar up when using it.

Entering 20th century we can find the use of multilayered face masks made of gauze a bit more widespread among surgical teams mainly. An earlier illustration of a multilayer face mask made of gauze can be found in the surgical operating teachings of the British surgeon B.G.A. Moynihan (1865–1936).

Fig 3. *Face mask following Berkeley George Andrew Moynihan (1865–1936) Abdominal Operations manual, 1906 (*https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

In more recent times, also in China, during the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Chinese medical scientist Wu Liande invented a mask made of two layers of gauze called Wu's mask in response to a pneumonic plague outbreak in the northeastern provinces of the Chinese Empire (a region known then as Manchuria) in the autumn of 1910. Those masks looks much like the white paper version we know today of face masks.

Fig 4. *Dr. Wu Lien-teh aka Wu Liande (right) performing a plague inhalation experiments in Mukden, modern-day Shenyang, Liaoning province, 1916 (https://www.sixthtone.com)*

From this point in the history of face masks, the evolution of those devices was unstoppable. Different epidemics that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century, especially the Spanish Flu, allowed people to take the use of this protection more seriously during epidemics spread by airborne pathogens. During the Spanish Flu Pandemic the face masks designs used could be counted in dozens.

Fig 5. Explaining how to wear a face mask, Oregon USA, 1918 (https://www.businessinsider.com)

Fig 6, 7. Examples of face masks adopted by British people between 1920 and 1940 (https://www.history.com)

Fig 8. An Australian implementation of face masks during Spanish Flu Pandemic, 1919 (https://www.abc.net.au)

Contradictory as it may seem, the emergence of pandemics has driven the increasingly modern and simple development of face masks as we know it today. With a growing market and the innovation of new methods of mass production coupled with the need of the medical world to access these devices on a regular basis the face mask has evolved to become what we know it today.

Fig 9. An actual disposable face mask.(Image by Juraj Varga from Pixabay)

Final thougths...by now

The evolution of face masks has been exponential since its first days back in ancient times. While there is an open and heated debate about their effectiveness in preventing some kind of diseases, common sense dictates that, in the worst case scenario, wearing a face mask can´t do any harm, and some people think it is even “cool” to wear it , while at best they can help you stay alive and healthy in times of pandemic.

The option is given, it only remains for you to assess whether it is worth using them or not...Next time you wear or see a face mask, remember please the long history behind the invention and all the efforts made to turn a simple strip of gauze into a, maybe, life saving device. **:)**

If you are an enthusiast of historical photograph and amazing discoveries do not forget to follow me at https://coil.com/u/deyner1984 because i will be releasing soon new and impressive contents about it!!!

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Want to know about one bizarre use given to face masks in the past?

You'll laugh a bit i can assure you that! **:)**

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