Face Mask Made from New York Times
date: label: date made
content: 2020
notes: label: Description
content: On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the COVID-19 outbreak had become a pandemic. Even before this declaration, public health advocates had begun to recommend “social distancing” (sometimes called “physical distancing”) and many Americans began wearing face masks.
label: Description
content: During the spring of 2020, New York State quickly became the epicenter of the pandemic. While much of the focus was on New York City, the state overall had the highest number of cases in any state during the period between March and July of 2020 and major outbreaks erupted in places outside of New York City. On March 7, 2020, then-governor Andrew Cuomo issued a state of emergency for the entire state and on March 20th, a formal stay-at-home order was issued for the state.
label: Description
content: On April 3, 2020, the CDC recommended that Americans wear face masks when they were in public spaces and unable to maintain a social distance of 6 feet or more. However, the disruption in supply chains, as well as an unprecedented run on these items, meant that N95 masks and other masks became extremely difficult to find. To counter these shortages, many Americans began to make their own masks. Newspapers, blogs, and Youtube videos provided Americans with information on how to sew a mask.
label: Description
content: The contoured mask promoted by The New York Times (Tracy Ma and Natalie Shutler, “How to Sew a Fabric Face Mask,” The New York Times, published online on March 31, 2020 and in print on April 5, 2020) became one of the most popular patterns for mask-making. However, many of the crafters and sewers who used this pattern tweaked it slightly to reflect their own needs.
label: Description
content: Following Governor Cuomo’s stay-at-home order, Ginger Schnaper, a resident of Larchmont (Westchester County), New York, made two cotton face masks with tie stings. Finding the masks difficult to use, she turned to the pattern promoted in The New York Times. She tweaked the Times’ pattern, using information she found online. She then made two masks, a small one for herself and a larger one for her husband (Henry Godfrey).
label: Description
content: The new masks Schnaper made had elastic loops as opposed to the cotton ties used on her first attempt. Although the country faced a major shortage of elastic, Schnaper was fortunate in that she had sewing elastic on hand; her purchase of this item predated the pandemic and subsequent elastic shortage. Schnaper used a disposable paper filter from a vacuum cleaner bag to make a filter which she then fitted into the mask’s filter pocket.
label: Description
content: Schnaper used her mask from March through May 2020, washing it every few days and alternating it with silver/copper-treated single-layer cotton face masks with elastic that were distributed by the Town of Mamaroneck in late March and early April (Larchmont is a town located within Mamaroneck). Schnaper found the masks from Mamaroneck more comfortable than the one she had made and after June, 2020, when masks became more available, she shifted to commercially available masks purchased from The Gap. Godfrey, however, continued to wear the mask she had made.
label: Description
content: The masks Schnaper made illustrate both the emergence of mask making during the first few months of the pandemic as well as how mask making evolved during this period. In using items she had on hand and tweaking an existing pattern, Schnaper was typical of many of the crafters and sewers who made masks in the spring of 2020. Her mask, which used a vacuum cleaner filter, demonstrates the ingenuity of crafters who were working during a period of intense shortages. Finally, Schnaper’s quick turn to mask making in March of 2020 reflects the way in which Westchester County residents responded to the country’s earliest and most widely reported outbreaks.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, Larchmont
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Henry P. Godfrey and Ginger Schnaper
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2021.0192.01
label: catalog number
content: 2021.0192.01
label: accession number
content: 2021.0192
objectType: label: Object Name
content: face mask
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: fabric; elastic (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: face mask (flat, ear loops extended): 5 in x 16 1/2 in x 3/4 in; 12.7 cm x 41.91 cm x 1.905 cm
label: Measurements
content: filter: 3 3/8 in x 4 7/8 in x 1/8 in; 8.5725 cm x 12.3825 cm x .3175 cm