BUNNY GAS MASKS

A baby contained in a "bunny mask."

BUNNY GAS MASKS. The April 3, 1942 edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin ran an article about “A New Easter Bunny.” The bunny was not a rabbit; it was a gas mask. The article continued..., “The Easter season in Hawaii coincides with the manufacture of ‘bunny masks’ designed to provide gas protection for infants.”

The War Department in Washington, D.C. aware of the possibility of a chemical attack by the Japanese immediately shipped military training gas masks to be used by the adult civilian population of Hawaii. This, however, left the large population of children unprotected. Adult masks were fine for adults, but were useless for children and infants. Not only were these youngsters not strong enough to be able to suck in air, the features of the masks scared children who refused to be near them.

Colonel Unmacht pictured.

The staff of Colonel George F. UNMACHT knew they wanted “a box respirator with a protective hood.” Col. Unmacht thought if the hoods were designed to appeal to children, they would be more readily worn. It was Unmacht who came up with the idea to add “ears” to the hood. He thought the “wiggling ears put a sense of play into the protective hood.”

The final design of the “Bunny Mask” was a double bag with an eye window and a drawstring to fasten it tightly around the child. The outer bag was made of felt or denim impregnated with CC-2 (chloramide powder) in paraffin. The inner muslin bag was also impregnated with paraffin. The eyepiece was scrap celluloid from old x-ray negatives. Inside the hood was a small breathing pad made of a double layer of heavy Turkish terry cloth. All seams were double stitched.

The bunny mask was designed to grow with the child. As an infant, the entire child was placed in the hood. For a toddler, the mask was tied at the waist and for an older child, it was tied at the neck.

Construction of the bunny masks was a volunteer effort. Mrs. Caroline Edwards of the Home Economics Division of the Department of Instruction was in charge of the project. She trained and certified women to sew the masks. The directions had to be followed exactly; the seams had to be strong. No gaps were allowed.

Despite weekly calls for volunteers in the newspaper, the numbers of women who joined the “Bunny Mask Corps” fell short. (Honolulu Advertiser, June 3, 1942) Women of the Honolulu Art Academy, Red Cross and Roosevelt High students made masks, but it was the women of the Japanese community who stepped up to make them on target meeting quotas and deadlines.

By June 1942, the Bunny Mask Corps had sewn 27,000 masks. Most of these were issued on Oahu. Despite the high number, there was still a critical shortage of masks. The Territory of Hawaii had an unexpectedly high birth rate in 1941 and there were twice as many infants born as originally anticipated. More masks were needed. Materials for the masks were “scrounged” from the Army, Navy and local homes. The OCD ran ads in the paper for housewives to search out their pantries and closets for “invisible supplies of bottles” that were tucked away on shelves.

The newspaper encouraged joining the Bunny Mask Corps by featuring a profile of one of the volunteers. On July 1, 1942, a story was published of Mrs. Hannah Keolanui who drove 25 miles each way to sew "bunny masks." The article praised Mrs. Keolanui and noted that she was given no extra gas rations for her 50-mile round trip from Punaluu to Washington Intermediate School.

At the end of the war, the OCD initially asked that the adult masks be returned. Notices were posted in office buildings, in the newspapers, and in school newsletters. E. E. Black, OCD Director later rescinded the decision. According to several oral histories, some were used as diving masks.

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Source:

Women of World War II-Hawaii: Bunny Masks-http://www.womenofworldwariihawaii.com/2010/01/bunny-masks.html

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