Metal and Leather Catcher's Mask c.1920

ABOUT This is an original vintage catcher's mask. The main body is distressed metal with thick, leather padding and fabric head strap. The padding is held onto the body of the mask by leather straps and brass snaps. The piece has retained most of it's original finish and is in good condition with appropriate patina for its age. CREATOR unknown. DATE OF MANUFACTURE c.1920. MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES Steel, Leather, Brass. CONDITION Good. Wear consistent with age and use. One strap is broken. The brown leather straps may or may not have been replaced sometime in its life time. DIMENSIONS H 11 in. W 9 in. D 5 in. HISTORY Masks were more obviously a protective device. Probably the first one was invented by an Ivy League man, Fred Thayer, who in 1876 adapted a fencing mask for Alexander Tyng, then with the Harvard Nine. At first, Thayer’s better mouse trap was derisively called a rat trap. But the catcher’s mask caught on quickly among pros and amateurs alike and was in wide use by th