Lifeless

“We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar

Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralyzed force, gesture without motion;

Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.”

What a pleasant surprise for a longtime fan of your site Mr. Mott, and first time poster. You sir are the urban, exurban architechnical , archeologist. Imperssive photos! and for so long. I look forward to what lies ahead.

Left to right:

Left: GM 44/1944...Military...An updated version of the GM 38 in the last image...

Second from left: I don't know, I can't ID that one....The design follows the industrial masks of that era...

Third in line is: VM-40...Volksgasmaske 40/civilian/1940...An updated version of the VM 37 mask which used the full head (helmet) wrap around design compared to this one which used straps to tighten the mask...This mask was built cheaply and not as sturdy as the VM 37...
Even today the market is flooded with them unused and can be bought for about $25 US for a green one but $100 US for black...

Last one on the right is an M-44/civilian/1944...
A ditch effort at providing civilians gas protection...This is the cheapest of cheap masks...Made of rubber impregnated fabric and like the VM models, issued with a cardboard filter when supplies like aluminum were running low...Hard to find these today...



Very nice images you have captured...


ebolavirus...

Fabulous poem, Suasponta. ebolavirus, thanks for all the information!

LUKE, I AM YOUR FATHER!

Can't wait to see the soap dish gass mask..

Like fire extinguishers : get one and hope you never have to use it.
They are cool, though.

Ooh, or maybe this one...they're just too interesting.

Geez, cardboard filters?? Is there really any benefit to that at all?

No sleep tonight, sunshine!!

this could be a wallpaper....

ebolavirus: how do you know so much about gas masks? That's pretty cool

Since Sal didn't comment on this one, I will:

"Are you my my mummy?"

"Fabulous poem, Suasponta. ebolavirus, thanks for all the information!"

Worth repeating what Lynne wrote!

Ms. Raven Poe:

I have been doing chemical gear collections and studying all ABC/NBC gear for about 20 years...I received my first gas mask about 10 years old and it just went on from there...
I have a very large collection from all countries of the world and have everything that was ever made in the former DDR which is my prized collection...I also do WWII syringes and needles too even though I despise those items and you can't get with 10 foot of me with one without a fight lol...

ebolavirus, Im interested in the fact you collect syringes. Do you have any that have a ceramic barrel or wooden type, i find these amazing!!! I am sure i didnt explain that right , but maybe you know what i mean! Thanks, let me know!

Most of what I have are glass plunger and barrel or glass and brass...All of mine are Eastern Bloc or Nazi made...I have the steel field sterilizers and boxes of new needles with cannula still in them too...
The newest set I have is a 5 pack of glass insulin syringes from the former East Germany complete with needles...
All of my syringes are brand new in original boxes...
I'll tell ya though that they are very heavy and somewhat scary...The small needles were very large back then. with intention to be used more than once..

I would link pictures but I don't want to hijack this photostream...if you would like to see what I have then I can send you a private link to my picassa album just email me at ebolavirus020@yahoo.com...
I'll be happy to show off what I have...It's not much but classic medical equipment is very expensive...

Here is a few of my hyp pics...All the others are in storage and I would have to dog them out...
I'm not a photographer but I think the images are ok...I'll be happy to post an album of my gas mask once I get a Styrofoam head to model them with...


http://picasaweb.googl...&feat=directlink

ebolavirus, Thank you so very much for your link! This is truly a fine collection and i hope others will take a look! Its been truly a pleasure to read your comments that serve to educate us on these subjects!!!

Thanks, glad you enjoyed the pics...Like i said I'm not a photographer but the images are pretty decent...I'm waiting on some heads and a torso so I can model my military gear and gas masks...The masks would be appropriate for this thread but I don't want to hijack his run...
I would not have done it if Motts had not given his permissions...So I thank you Motts for letting me link into your run here...After the heads come in I would be more than happy to show off my collection by dropping another link to my Picassa album...
I'm currently not happy with the way the archived pictures are so I refuse to show them...
Motts, you site is completely awesome, you have the best sets I have ever seen and this one is by far my favorite...

Wow not on a bet with those needles. That is quite a collection! Great descriptions too. Thanks for all the info!

T.S. Eliot is indeed a great poet: http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/784.

"This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper."

Those gas masks are absolutely terrifying.

In the house where I grew up, the attic was filled with all kinds of great old stuff, including a WWII gas mask. . . I wanted to keep that in particular, but the whole lot was traded for desperately needed remodelling. . . *sigh*