Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Italy: Other manufacturers

[David Wilson]

Thanks, Sam and Jale, for the likes.

Today we review the Salvas Ischia mask.

First the origin of the product name "Ischia". According to Google, Ischia (above) is a volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples, Italy. It is known for its mineral-rich thermal waters. Hot springs bubble up at Maronti Beach, in the south. East, Roman remains lie beneath the sea floor at Cartaromana Beach. The beach has views of medieval Aragonese Castle, linked to Ischia by a stone bridge. Nearby, 18th-century Palazzo dell’Orologio houses the Sea Museum, devoted to Ischia’s fishing tradition."

The Rex-Hevea catalogue of 1954 provides the barest detail with no illustration:

So, discarding the "translationese", the Ischia was a diving mask available in medium size only and featuring a large face-plate surrounded with a retaining band. Not a lot to go on as the description could have applied to many masks of the time.

The Salvas Ischia entry in the 1958 Rex-Hevea catalogue turned out to be much more of a help:

A picture is worth a thousand words and we now discover that the Ischia mask was available in two versions during the late 1950s: "C.A." and "Normale". "Normale" on the right is oviously Italian for "Normal" and what we have is a plain mask with a split strap. The acronym "C.A." denoting the model on the left is not expanded anywhere, so I cannot explain its meaning. By way of contrast with the "Ischia Normale", the Ischia C.A. comes with a ribbed body for reinforcement, perhaps suggesting that the mask was designed for deeper diving where the risk of mask collapse against the face might be a threat.

Fabio Vitale's Salvas Ischia entry in his round-up of 1950s dive masks:

Italian: "-a Maschera Ischia C.A. Salvas. -b Maschera Ischia Norm. Salvas. Adatte a volti regolari, con carcassa in gomma blu ad ampio bordo facciale e largo cristallo di forma ovale bloccato da ghiera metallica. Entrambe in misura unica media."
Rough translation: "-a Salvas Ischia C.A. mask. -b Salvas Ischia Norm. mask. Fits regular faces. Blue rubber body with broad sealing edge and large oval face plate held in place by metal band. Both medium size only."

And yes, his illustrations are copies of the ones that appear in the 1958 Rex-Hevea catalogue.

 

[David Wilson]

What happened to the Ischia when the late 1950s turned into the early 1960s is moot. What is known, however, is that a new version of the Ischia appeared in 1968:

This mask is a "novità 1968" - a new product for 1968 that not only came in a variety of colours but also featured "inserti in neoprene", neoprene inserts, for compensation purposes. You can see this mask suspended by its strap from the model's left hand.

Another advertisement from the same year:

So now we know that the new Ischia's range of colours included white.

And here we finish for the day. Next time, at the weekend, we shall tackle the Salvas Cirano and Bermude masks. The lifting of lockdown in the UK has now been delayed for a further four weeks by order of the government. Keep safe and stay well, wherever you are.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks, Jale, for the likes.

On to the two remaining items of Salvas eyewear launched during the 1950s: Cyrano and Bermude. The product name "Cyrano" pays homage to seventeenth-century French novelist Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (above). A fictionalised version of his life was celebrated in Edmond Rostand's famous play Cyrano de Bergerac, which helped to create and perpetuate the legend of the man blighted with an oversized nose but blessed with a honeyed tongue:

Unsurprisingly, therefore, the name "Cyrano" draws attention to the Salvas mask's prominent nosepiece. Here are Fabio Vitale's comments in his roundup of 1950s dive masks, where he compares the Salvas Cyrano with its more famous and longer-lived ancestor, Cressi's Luigi Ferraro designed Pinocchio:

Italian: "-a Maschera Pinocchio Cressi. In gomma azzurra, misura unica media. -b Maschera Cyrano Salvas. Carcassa in gomma azzurra e misura unica media."
Rough translation: "-a Cressi Pinocchio Mask. Light blue rubber, Medium size only. -b Salvas Cyrano Mask. Light blue rubber body and medium size only."

The descriptions of the two masks are almost verbatim identical.

Here is the pertinent entry in the 1958 Rex-Hevea catalogue, where the Cyrano is again compared with the Cressi Pinocchio:

So the two masks were largely similar in shape and colour, but differed in face-plate size, where the Salvas model offered a wider field of vision than the Cressi. Nevertheless, the original kidney-shaped mask with nosepiece, the Cressi Pinocchio, has remained in production to this very day, while the Salvas Cyrano faded away before the 1960s.

 

[David Wilson]

Second Salvas eyewear of the day: the Bermude. "Bermude" is the plural form of "Bermuda" in Italian, translating therefore to "Bermudas". Alternatively known as the Somers Isles, Bermuda (above) is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean.

This will be something of a postscript to a previous section of this thread because the Salvas Bermude was actually a pair of spearfishing goggles. Here they are in the 1958 Rex-Hevea catalogue:

So the Bermide goggles were billed as a versatile tool for underwater hunters adjustable to fit any face. Like the Cyrano, the Bermude was not destined to survive the end of the 1950s. The days of undewater swimming gpggles were numbered.

And here we shall break off for today. I shall return midweek with a review of the Salvas Atlantic mask, which came and went in the mid-1960s. Until then, keep safe and stay well.

 

[David Wilson]

I'm grateful for the likes, Sam and Jale.

Today we focus on the Salvas Atlantic. Here it is top centre in a German-language Salvas catalogue from 1965:

According to the caption, and I paraphrase, the Atlantic is "a blue, black and yellow natural rubber mask with a wide field of vision and a stainless steel rim. Meets the needs of the experts".So what we have here is a kidney shaped mask with an external nostril-pinching nosepiece for compensator ear-clearing; a design not a million miles away from the Cressi Pinocchio.

Here is the Atlantic in a Salvas basic gear roundup from a 1965 issue of the Italian diving magazine Mondo Sommerso:

The label "novità" (new product) suggests that 1965 was this mask's launch year. The Italian caption roughly translates to "ATLANTIC - NEW PRODUCT - 1965 - rubber mask with a stainless-steel rim, a wide field of vision, a nosepiece for compensation, suitable for professional use".

Another from the same source during 1965:

According to this caption, the Atlantic is the new mask designed for deep-water divers and to offer a wide field of vision.

 

[David Wilson]

The Salvas Atlantic appeared thus in a 1966 Mondo Sommerso gear roundup:

So a "rubber mask with stainless-steel rim, wide field of vision and compensator nosepiece." The same message supplied from the same source in 1968:

And to finish off for today, the Atlantic showcased within a range of Salvas equipment during 1968:

To sum up: No surprises with this mask, which closely resembles the iconic Luigi Ferraro Pinocchio mask but without the metal wire on the front. A member of the "advance party" of kidney-shaped masks with compensator nosepieces that came to dominate the market as the 1970s proceeded.

Back at the weekend with a review of the Salvas "Super Atlantic" and "Super Cyrano". Until then, keep well and stay safe.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the likes, Same and Jale.

Today's Salvas dive masks of interest are the Super Atlantic and the Super Cirano. The former was a relatively short-lived model, while the latter proved to be a much more durable product.

We shall begin with the Super Atlantic. First let us recall what the Atlantic mask looked like:

According to the caption, and I paraphrase, the Atlantic (top centre) is "a blue, black and yellow natural rubber mask with a wide field of vision and a stainless steel rim. Meets the needs of the experts".So what we have here is a kidney-shaped mask with an external nostril-pinching nosepiece for compensator ear-clearing; a design not a million miles away from the Cressi Pinocchio.

And now for the Salvas Super Atlantic from the same 1965 German-language catalogue:

German: "art. 257-B. «super atlantic». Naturgummi-Maske in blau, schwarz und gelb, mit grosser Sichtweite, Gürtel aus nicht oxidierendem Stahl - mit Ersatzgumminase, mit Auslass - Ventil. Entspricht den Erfordernissen der Experten."
Rough translation: "art. 257-B. “Super Atlantic”. Blue, black and yellow natural-rubber mask with a wide field of vision and a stainless-steel rim, a rubber nosepiece and a drain valve. Meets the needs of the experts".

So have you spotted the difference between the basic Atlantic mask and its "super" version yet? Yes, the drain valve as we Brits call it, or "purge valve" in US parlance. It is just visible on the base of the nosepiece. And this feature appears to have been discontinued without explanation after 1965 and with it the product name "Super Atlantic".

 

[David Wilson]

Let us move immediately on to the Super Cirano, reminding ourselves first what the Cirano looked like:

The Cirano, top right, whose name was inspired by honey-tongued but large-nosed Cyrano de Bergerac, never made it into the 1960s, while the Super Cirano remained in production between 1961 and 1970.

Here is the Super Cirano in 1961:

Italian: "SUPER CIRANO maschera in gomma con vetri normali, reggetta in nylon, consente una facile compensazione aderentissima, grande campo visivo. E' la più moderna elaborazione delle maschere con sagomatura nasale preferite dai profondisti."
Rough translation: "SUPER CIRANO rubber mask with normal lenses, nylon strap, enables easy compensation, very tight fitting, wide field of vision. It is the most modern elaboration of the nose-shaped masks preferred by deep-water divers".

In 1962, Mondo Sommerso published a very thorough review of the Super Cirano:

To save space, I shall simply provide a rough translation into English:
"SUPER CYRANO" mask. SALVAS-Rome. Price: 1700 lire. Colour: White, black. Air volume: About 250 c.c. Visibility at 5 metres: upper vertical, 4.50 m.; lower vertical, 2.30 m. (total vertical, 6.8 m); horizontal, 17.3 m.; upper lateral diagonal, 6.40 m.; lower lateral diagonal, 5.50 m.; central area approx: depth 6.5 cm.; base 3.7 cm.
Description: Pretty, soft, twin-lens, moulded rubber mask with external nosepiece. 3 mm lenses housed in special recesses made in the two rubber frames and held by a nylon ring nut housed in a suitable seat. Ring in two pieces joined by three screws (two lateral with nut and one central above the nose). The upper half-frame is profusely shaped to prevent deformation of the visual plane (possible since the lens is in two pieces). On the two lateral ribs of the mask, an enlargement allows the hooking of the buckles for the strap which remain locked in the position of use. The strap, made of the same rubber as the mask, does not come off completely from the buckles, thanks to its "T" terminals. The ends have a series of transversal reliefs on the external face to prevent them from loosening. The central area of the strap (the one resting behind the head) is much wider, with a slot in the centre, to improve its adherence.
Characteristics and observations: This mask, despite the not exceptional softness of the rubber, rests quite gently on the face, thanks to the special shaping of the sealing edge with the face itself, which allows the usual flange to be eliminated. Its air capacity is not among the smallest, on the other hand the visibility it offers in almost all directions is excellent. The central blind zone is remarkable. Well designed and finished, the only perplexity that this mask can leave is the possibility that the lenses end up after a certain period of use on two different levels and therefore deform the images.

 

[David Wilson]

Let us jump forward to that German-language Salvas catalogue of 1965:

German: "art. 256. «super cirano» - Maske. Naturgummi-Maske. Farben: Blau, schwarz, orange und gelb. Sicherheitslinsen, Plastik-Nylon-Gürtel, Ersatzgumminase. art. 256. «super cirano ottica» - Maske. Wie Art. 256, Kontaktlinsen können eingefügt werden."
Rough translation: "art. 256. “super cirano” mask. Natural rubber mask. Colours: blue, black, orange and yellow. Safety lenses, plastic nylon strap, rubber nosepiece. art. 256. “super cirano ottica” mask. Same as Art. 256, contact lenses can be inserted.

So the Super Cirano came in an optical version too allowing insertion of corrective lenses. Here is the mask in 1967:

Its final appearance was in 1970:

And there we stop for today. Two masks named "Super", the first just because it featured a drain valve and the second that stood the test of time and even reached out to divers requiring corrective lenses. Adesiva, Nervi, Oceanica and Tiger models still to be reviewed from the Salvas mask stable. Stay well and keep safe until midweek when normal service will be restored.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the "likes", Sam.

We are now heading down the "home straight" in our review of Salvas dive masks. Just four more models to go and we shall start with the Oceanica mask, the earliest of that quartet to be launched on to the market. "Oceanica" is Italian for "Oceanic", of course, but I expect everybody was aware of that tidbit already. Image below from Salvas advertisements in 1967 issues of the Italian diving magazine Mondo Sommerso:

Italian: "OCEANICA maschera a grande campo visivo con reggetta speciale - con più combinazione di colore".
Rough translation: "OCEANICA wide-view mask with special strap and multiple colour combinations".

Another Salvas ad from 1970 may provide a closer look:

So from what we can gather from these three ads is that the Oceanica was a kidney-shaped mask of the type that came to prominence in the West during the 1970s.