Snowstorm Mask
We don’t know much about this device other than what’s mentioned in the bibliographic record from the Netherlands Nationaal Archief, which states that it is “Plastic face protection from snowstorms. Canada, Montreal, 1939.” The Dutch term for these contraptions is “Plastic sneeuwstormbeschermer.” There is something about living in a post-covid world that makes the Snowstorm Mask feel surreal in a way that isn’t describable. The plague mask shape is so strange, yet familiar, as if you saw it in a dream. It’s like looking into some alternate reality of what could have been. Surely the inventor thought the cone shape would give it an aerodynamic quality, but only if you’re facing into the wind. A sideways gust would blow it right off, and good riddance. Despite being clear plastic, your visibility would go to 0 as it quickly fogged from your breath.