TITLE: Paper Advertising Space Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: North America
COUNTRY: United States of America
ETHNICITY: Mixed
DESCRIPTION: Paper Advertising Mask of a Spaceman with “My Daddy Bought a Space Conditioner” Logo
CATALOG ID: NAUS090
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: advertising
FUNCTION: entertainment
AGE: 1950s
MAIN MATERIAL: lithographed card paper
OTHER MATERIALS: steel staples; elastic band
This mask would have been given out to children when their parents purchased a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, probably for a single-family dwelling or apartment. Such toys were intended both as a purchasing incentive and a form of advertising, although this particular mask fails to mention the name of the seller. The same mask type was used by other business firms, most prominently Sip’s Dairy in Manayunk, Pennsylvania; Skate Town in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Sealtest ice cream. Much later (1969), the same mask was distributed as a souvenir from Wapakoneta, Ohio, to advertise that the town is the home of Neil Armstrong, the first human being to set foot on Earth’s moon.
