From Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, describing Britain during WWII (all emphasis mine): "The British gas masks have a squat round fitting on the front to all

From Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, describing Britain during WWII (all emphasis mine): "The British gas masks have a squat round fitting on the front to allow exhalation, which looks exactly like the snout of a pig, and no woman would be caught dead in such a thing if the models in the gas mask posters were not such paragons of high-caste beauty." But maybe he invented this -- I've never seen a copy of such a poster. (Edit: I've found at last something related, just a photo, not a poster, and a "South African": (1) ) What's certain is that there were mask "issues" around 1918 in the US, at the time of another pandemics: https://www.history.com/news/1918-spanish-flu-mask-wearing-resistance https://www.history.com/news/1918-spanish-flu-mask-wearing-r... 1) https://www.alamy.com/a-female-of-the-south-african-air-force-dons-her-gas-mask-during-ww11-image67495756.html https://www.alamy.com/a-female-of-the-south-african-air-forc...