The Bunny Mask, Part 2
Despite weekly calls for volunteers to make bunny masks, the numbers of women who joined the “Bunny Mask Corps” fell short. (Honolulu Advertiser, June 3, 1942) In mid-June 1942, Mrs. Flora K. Hayes, President of the P.T.A. sent out a plea to help out to mothers of school children. Two weeks later the Honolulu Advertiser ran a piece questioning the lack of response by the women of Oahu to make the masks. “Women casting about for worthy war work might regard volunteer manufacture of bunny masks for infants…it is a number one endeavor, yet, ironically, comparatively few volunteers have shown up for actual work.”
That’s not to say that there was no support for the project. American Red Cross volunteers set up a manufacture sight at the Honolulu Art Academy. In the photo, Mrs. H. Rolph is shown how to cut the material by Mrs. H.S. Turner. You can see bundles of denim piled in the background of the photo. The cutting of the material required learning how to use “men’s tools.”
By June 1942, the Bunny Mask Corps had sewn 27,000 masks. Most of these were issued on Oahu. Despite the high number, there was still a critical shortage of masks. The Territory of Hawaii had an unexpectedly high birth rate in 1941 and there were twice as many infants born as originally anticipated. More masks were needed. Materials for the masks were “scrounged” from the Army, Navy and local homes. The OCD ran ads in the paper for housewives to search out their pantries and closets for “invisible supplies of bottles” that were tucked away on shelves.
The newspaper encouraged joining the Bunny Mask Corps by featuring a profile of the volunteers. On July 1, 1942, they published the story of Mrs. Hannah Keolanui who drove 25 miles each way to sew Bunny Masks. The article praised Mrs. Keolanui and noted that she was given no extra gas rations for her 50-mile round trip from Punaluu to Washington Intermediate School.
On July 7, 1942, the Honolulu Advertiser editor wrote, “More bunny mask volunteers are needed. Some 350 Honolulu women have volunteered for the Bunny Mask Corps…..the authorities set a goal of 5000 women…The women have done an excellent job, but there are still more masks to be made….Let’s go girls—over the top!” (Honolulu Advertiser, July 7, 1942)
The Honolulu Advertiser published a “Bunny Mask Honor Roll” listing 509 women who volunteered for service, of these 89 qualified for the honor roll with 30 or more hours of service. (August 2, 1942) By December 1942, the goal of manufacturing and distributing 37,643 bunny masks was met.
It was the Japanese seamstresses who answered the call. The Japanese community sent out a broadcast to appeal to the seamstresses to volunteer their skills to complete the work. As a result, “Dozens of downtown tailors have offered to do certain specialized jobs on thousands of masks that would protect our children. Most of the dressmakers of Honolulu are of Japanese descent and are trained in such work on their own sewing machines.” The article also went on to chastise those owners of machines who did not step forward and offer them to the Bunny Corps. It commented, “It is estimated that hundreds of sewing machines are virtually idle in city homes but few have been offered for the vital job.” (Honolulu Advertiser, June 25, 1942)
Besides the bunny mask for infants there were “built-up masks” for children. These were for children five-years old and older. Even though these masks were technically more difficult to make than a bunny mask, there was no shortage of volunteers. (June 25, 1942)
Besides women volunteers, student labor was also used to make built-up masks. Lovey James, a woman whose profile will be posted later this year, was a student at Roosevelt High during the war. During the first years of the war, all high school students were required to volunteer for the war effort during the school day. Many worked in the pineapple fields, but Lovey wasn’t about to do that. She volunteered to build children’s masks at school.
Special rubber was glued into the inside of an adult mask. (Honolulu Advertiser June 28, 1942). They had to be then personally fitted when they were distributed. By June 18, 1942, fifty-thousand built-up masks were given out. With the distribution of each mask, a notice was given to the parents that a replacement charge of $4.50 would be imposed. The replacement charge for an adult mask was $3.50.
Roosevelt High School students were trained by the Gas Defense Division of the OCD, and an OCD inspector reviewed every one of their masks. In the photo from left to right are Freida Cordeiro, a junior, Lois Trimmer and Lucille Bate, both seniors. The girls are applying the last strip around the interior of the mask. Over 70,000 built-up masks were turned out by Roosevelt students.
At the end of the war, the OCD asked that the adult and the built-up masks be returned. Notices were posted in office buildings, in the newspapers, in school newsletters. E.E.Black, OCD Director decided that the bunny masks didn’t have to be returned. The return of the masks was considered critical because the rubber used in them would be salvaged. According to several oral histories, many gas masks were not returned and some were used as diving masks.
While Unmacht was busy in the Territory making Bunny Masks, on the mainland, T.W.Smith, Jr., owner of the Sun Rubber Company in California began developing a children’s mask based on the design of Mickey Mouse’s head. When Walt Disney was presented with the idea, he approved of the design and it was submitted to Major General William N. Porter, Chief of the Chemical Warfare Services. However, it was not until 1944 that 1,000 masks were produced. 
Masks of all kinds were being developed all over the world. In England, even a mask for dogs was developed.
Photo Credits: Mickey Mouse gas mask and dog masks from Department of Army Museum, all others Hawaii War Records Depository.
