The Tingle Factor Box

Awesome! Gas Protection

Imagine, you are a soldier in the First World War. You are proud to be fighting for your country, but it is so frightening. When you joined up you thought it would be over within the year, but the war is just dragging on and on. You have seen such horrors, and you know that any day might be your last. It's a terrifying thought. Most of all though, you are frightened of a gas attack. Gas is such a silent weapon, it could have done its damage before you know it is there.

When I took these gas protectors to show the children, they were fascinated by them. The early 'mask', simple eye shields, which possibly date to World War One, was difficult for the children to recognise as any type of protection against gas, but the World War Two era mask, looked as one child said, 'exactly like what you see in the movies!' They knew about gas attacks during the wars, but had only ever seen gas masks on television, in movies or behind glass in museums. To be able to hold them, feel how heavy the World War Two mask was, and how flimsy the early protection was in comparison, was as another child said, 'awesome'.

When we think of gas masks we tend to think of their use in wars, particularly in World Wars One and Two. Yet their history actually goes back over a century before the First World War. A gas mask is a respirator which filters gas from the air, leaving it clean to breathe. Sometimes they are also used to filter other impurities from the air. The first, very primitive example of a respirator was actually used by miners and was introduced into mining by Alexander von Humboldt in 1799. These masks were primitive, but could filter some of the deadly gases which were found in mines. This respirator was not a gas mask though.

The first ever 'gas mask' was patented on June 12, 1849 by Lewis Haslett and was used to filter dust from the air. Soon other versions were being developed by people including John Stenhouse in 1854, John Tyndall in the 1870s and Garrett Morgan in 1912. Morgans device was mainly for use in breathing in smoky environments, like fires, but was very successful. He even used it in 1916 to rescue people from the Cleveland Waterworks tunnels, which were filled with gas and smoke under Lake Erie. Of course, the most famous use of gas masks was to protect soldiers and civilians from poison gas attack during the First and Second World Wars. The first 'gas mask' used in war to protect against such gases was simply a cotton mouth pad, or even a urine soaked cloth. As the war progressed though, gas masks became more effective and better designed. In 1915 James Bert Garner, an American chemist became the man credited with inventing the gas mask as we know it. He tested his mask on two colleages in a gas filled chamber and, when it was proven to work, offered it to the British for use in the War. Although Garner created the first real gas mask, it is British scientist Edward Harrison who was credited with making the first gas mask which could practically be mass produced. He even received a thank-you note from Winston Churchill for his efforts! If you would like to learn more about the history of gas masks, click here.

Are They Bug Eggs? Pin Cushion

Imagine, you are a mother living in the late 1800s. You have so much work to do around the house, looking after the children, washing, mending, cooking, cleaning, that it is important to have things sorted neatly and easy to find. It is easy to waste time looking for a pot, or a knife or a pin or a needle if you don't keep them in just the right place. That is why you are making this pin cushion. You had a lovely one, but it has become worn and you decided it needed to be replaced before your pins and needles fell out of it and went missing!

When I took this pin cushion to show the children, they were really very funny. They assumed it would be something exotic and fancy, some sort of brooch, or perhaps even something which, when 'soaked in water, turned into something else'. I think they were almost disappointed to discover it was something as mundane as a pin cushion! They were intrigued to see the 'bug eggs' which were falling out of the cushion though. They assumed the little brown grains must be some sort of bug egg, because they resembled the eggs of moths found in old cereal, and were stunned to realise that it was actually sawdust - the stuffing of choice in the late 1800s.

Today, pins and needles are cheap and easy to purchase, and when we lose them we simply buy a new packet. Our only concern about losing a pin or needle is whether we might later find it when we sit down, or have bare feet. In times gone by though, pins and needles, particularly metal ones, were very expensive and hard to even find! It was important that, if you had pins and needles, you had some way of keeping them safe and from going rusty. In the 1300s containers started to be made to look after them and to enable people to carry them around. These containers were often made of wood, ivory or silver, and were as much a display of wealth as a way to keep pins safe!

In the 1700s, people started to use pin-pillows to look after their pins and needles. These 'pillows' were usually made of expensive fabrics like satin, velvet or linen and before too long, they pillow itself became part of a more elaborate sculptural piece. Often a base of silver, porcelain or wood would be created and then the pillow would fit inside. These pin-pillows were more decorative than functional, and sometimes the pins themselves were part of the decoration, making the quills on hedgehogs, or themselves decorated. Later, pin cushions began to take on a more functional role, and some even had little clamps which could be used to hold fabric in place against a table. The pin cushion I showed the children probably dates to the 1800s and, though beautiful, is very simple. It was clearly made as a functional pin cusion, not as an elaborate decorative piece, though it is beautifully decorated with beads and very carefully made. Roy will have a go at recreating the design at some stage.

Why Would You Want A See Through Handbag? Lucite Handbag

Imagine, you are a woman living in the 1950s. You pride yourself on being at the height of fashion, and keeping up with all the latest trends. So, when the new trend became handbags made out of the plastic 'lucite', you of course had to have one (or two or maybe more). The problem is, they might be fashionable, but they are such silly things. Hard and rigid, they don't carry easily, and several of them are see through - why would you want people to see what was in your handbag?

It's Sweet, But Kind Of Creepy - Trench Art Ring

Imagine, you are a little girl. You are living in 1946, and the war has just finished. It is your Birthday today, and you know not to expect too much – after all things are still hard and rationing and shortages still apply. Still, you have the best present of all, Daddy is home! He says he has something special for you, which he made while he was away. When you open the little box, you find a simple ring, which fits your little fingers perfectly. Apparently, he made it from a piece of a crashed Japanese plane!

It's Beautiful - Bakelite Necklace

Imagine, you are a woman living in the 1920s. It is Valentines Day and you are going out dancing with your fiance. You are dressed in your best dress and hat, and wearing a new necklace which you simply adore. Your fiance sent it over this morning as an early Valentines surprise, and you want to wear it for him. It is a bakelite necklace, made out of the hard plastic which you so often see in household items. It is amazing stuff - the things you can do with it, even make intricately carved beads! You know it probably didn't cost a lot, but it is just so 'you'. He chose well!

It's Very Elegant - Fossil Jewellery

Imagine, you are a young woman. You, like so many of your friends, love to get new pieces of jewellery, but you always want something a bit different, something which will stand out from the crowd. Having 'normal' jewellery is simply no fun! Recently, you saw a beautiful piece in a shop, a piece made with a fossil. You hadn't seen a fossil like it before - it was shiny and colourful and sparkling. You simply had to have it. You'd never even thought you could make fossils into jewellery before now.

They're So Fine - Depression Quilt Patches

Imagine, it is the 1930s and you are a mother. Times are really hard, your family seem to be living on the chokos from the vine over the outdoor dunny and you don't have a lot of money. You have to mend and make do with everything you can. Old shirts, worn out sheets, skirts with holes in them, even the sacks you buy flour in can all be cut down and sewn into all sorts of things, a dolly for your daughters birthday, a new shirt for your son, a quilt for the bed. You have been working on putting little patches leftover from other projects together into squares. You think it will make a nice quilt, mainly in shades of blue.

They're Horrible - Mens Woollen Bathers

Imagine, you are man living in the early 1900s. It's a hot summer day and you want to cool down in the sea. You plan to head to the beach late in the afternoon, and hope that there is a bathing shed available. After all, you will need to change out of your clothes into your bathers. Of course, although you look forward to cooling down, you don't look forward to having to put your bathers on. The wool is so scratchy, and when it gets wet it is clingy and heavy and simply horrible.

They Should Make Them Like This Now! Lipstick Holder

Imagine, you are a woman living in America in the early 1940s. The war is underway and you are doing everything you can to help the war effort. You are busy knitting socks, baking cakes and generally helping out where you can. You wish you could join the services with your daughter, but you have younger children to look after. You do your bit though, and after you discovered she had been issued a tube of lipstick 'to keep morale up', you went out and purchased one too. After all, you have to do your bit!

Eew, That's Not Right - Human Hair Hairnet

Imagine, you are a woman working in a factory during the War. You are working on making munitions, and although you don't enjoy the work, you know it is necessary. It's dirty and dangerous work though, and every so often there is a tragedy in the factory, one of the munitions going off early or an accident with a machine. Just last week one of the women had her hair caught in one of the machines. She should have had it tied away, but she didn't. It just reinforced in your mind how important the hairnet you wear really is!