Walt Disney Helped Create a Mickey Mouse Gas Mask During World War II

Walt Disney Helped Create a Mickey Mouse Gas Mask During World War II and became briefly involved in U.S. civil-defense planning after the threat of chemical warfare resurfaced. Following Pearl Harbor in December 1941, New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, then head of the Office of Civil Defense, proposed making 50 million gas masks available to civilians in five sizes for different age groups. By the one-year anniversary of Pearl Harbor, only about 300,000 had been shipped nationwide, with distribution based on the vulnerability of certain areas. The article says chemical poison gas was never used in the war, with both sides reportedly preferring explosives for infrastructure attacks. In January 1942, Walt Disney traveled to Washington to review a Mickey Mouse-themed gas mask he had conceived, featuring large glass eyes and distinctive shapes intended to calm children. Around 1,000 masks were produced in the U.S., reportedly by Sun Rubber Company.