Basic gear from the People's Republic of Bulgaria

[David Wilson]

On to diving masks made in Bulgaria during the People's Republic era. The first two postings in this portion of the thread will focus on masks with no markings except for pricing in Bulgarian levs. My presumption is that these masks were made by the Hemus manufacturing cooperative in Sofia, but if anybody knows different, please provide information to complete the picture. According to the album of images at http://sofspravka.com/db/htmls/1130005970/detski-igrachki.htm, the model is simply identified as Маска "Елипса" (Transliteration: "Maska Elipsa"), which literally means "Ellipse" mask). The descriptor "Elipsa" may be the mask's official brand name or just a reference to its elliptical (oval) shape. What makes the model unique is the variety of solid colours available. We'll focus today on the version that comes with a stainless steel rim and top screw.

Elipsa mask

The Elipsa mask has is a plain oval diving mask with a rubber skirt, a stainless-steel rim, and buckles on either side for a non-split strap. It came without compensator bosses. The design is reminiscent of the British-made Typhoon Super Star mask my parents gave me as a birthday present in the early 1960s, which I cherish to this day:

In my opening paragraph I mentioned that the Elipsa diving mask was available in an unusually large range of colours other than black.

Here is a blue version:

Note the marking on the strap, "ЦЕНА 4,80 лв.", meaning "PRICE: 4.80 lev", which is the only indicator that the mask was made in Bulgaria.

Here is a green version:

And here is an orange version:

And finally, a yellow version:

I make that no less than five different solid colours, including black. If you're interested in the mask's dimensions, they are:
Mask width: 16 cm (6.3 inches).
Mask height: 12 cm (4.7 inches).
Strap length: 54 cm (21.3 inches).
Masks like these, dated as having been made in Bulgaria during the 1970s, were offered on eBay until relatively recently.

My next posting will be a review of "Elipsa" masks with plastic rims. They too came in a variety of hues.

 

[David Wilson]

In my last posting I reviewed a series of Bulgarian oval diving masks with steel rims. Next up is a range of Bulgarian oval diving masks with plastic rims:

The image above can be found at http://sofspravka.com/db/htmls/1130005970/detski-igrachki.htm. It is captioned Маска "Елипса" (Transliteration: "Maska Elipsa"), which literally means "Ellipse mask". The descriptor "Elipsa" may be the mask's official brand name or just a reference to its elliptical (oval) shape. What makes this Bulgarian line in diving masks unique is once again the variety of solid colours available.

Elipsa mask (plastic rim)

The mask closely resembles in shape and detail its stainless-steel rim equivalent, including the ribs and pebbled surfaces on the skirt. The plastic rim is also clamped with a top screw. Note the design of the head strap, which comes with a series of large perforations at the back rather than the split-strap design found on the metal-rimmed masks. We shall see the same perforated strap again in my next posting.

The front of the Elipsa mask is reminiscent of the plastic-rimmed Russian "Nimfa" diving mask, which was designed for smaller faces and which is still marketed:

The use of a plastic rim enabled the Bulgarian diving mask manufacturer to offer a colour contrast between the plastic rim and the rubber skirt and strap In the example above, we have a yellow rim with a black strap and skirt. Here is another Elipsa mask with an orange rim and an aquamarine skirt and strap:

And here's an Elipsa with a white/translucent rim and a dark blue strap and skirt:

Another with an orange rim and light blue strap and skirt:

Orange rim with green strap and skirt:

Note the marking on the strap, "ЦЕНА 4,80 лв.", meaning "PRICE: 4.80 lev", which is the only indicator that the mask was made in Bulgaria.

Dark green rim with orange skirt and strap:

That makes seven different versions of the mask. Some of these masks can be purchased from vintage sites such as Etsy and Berovavintage. In my next posting I will be reviewing another Hemus mask, a twin-lens model this time.

 

[David Wilson]

The next Bulgarian mask to be showcased is a twin-lens model, simply named "Хемус" (Hemus) after the manufacturing cooperative responsible for its production.

Hemus mask

The sole marking on the mask is the product name "HEMUS" on the top of the skirt. According to its eBay description, this model dated from the 1970s, which was the decade often associated with the rise of such kidney-shaped diving masks, although some models of this type entered the market much earlier. The Italian-made Mares Vedo mask below, for example, first appeared in a Lillywhites Underwater catalogue in 1963:

For ear-clearing purposes, the Hemus mask features the same nosepiece as the Pinocchio mask designed by Luigi Ferraro (below) in 1952 for the Cressi diving equipment company in Italy:

The Hemus mask comes with an adjustable strap, 54 cm long with four large perforations in the middle to cradle the back of the head. This design is reminiscent of the Russian-made Mosrezina Type I and Type II masks of the Soviet era, here below with the perforated circles left uncut:

According to the album of images at http://sofspravka.com/db/htmls/1130005970/detski-igrachki.htm, the Hemus mask came in a choice of skirt and frame colours:

That's it as far as Bulgarian diving masks are concerned. We'll move on to Bulgarian snorkels next time.

 

[David Wilson]

All right: on to Bulgarian snorkels, which may be the last posting in this thread. The message also comes with a caveat. A breathing tube is probably one of the hardest items of underwater swimming gear to identify because of the absence of manufacturer's brand markings or even an indication of a country of origin. Let's begin with that hopefully now familiar album of images at http://sofspravka.com/db/htmls/1130005970/detski-igrachki.htm:

Bulgarian (Hemus?) snorkels

The picture comes with the caption Детски шнорхел, Шнорхел, which means "Children's snorkels, snorkels". I'll leave you, dear readers, to decide for yourselves which models are designed for children and which are intended for adults. What is certain is that the image shows:

• Two apparently identical breathing tubes, each with a J-shaped barrel ending in a straight mouthpiece.
  
• Three identically shaped breathing tubes, each with a differently-coloured, contoured barrel ending in an offset mouthpiece.

Although the picture is undated, the presence of a contoured snorkel design suggests a 1970s provenance. Earlier in this thread, I linked to the following photo on a metal-detecting forum:

The poster wanted to sell his fins and mask for 8.40 Lev and would have thrown in a couple of snorkels if he could only find them! I don't think he ever did, so that possible source of information about Bulgarian snorkels quickly dried up. In the same message, I linked to this photo as well:

The image is dated 1973, the fins are identified as Hemus Delfins and the mask as Hungarian. The breathing tube, however, is simply described as "PVC шнорхел", meaning "a PVC snorkel" and I suspect that it too is Hungarian in origin. I'm tempted to attribute the breathing tube in the auction site image below to a Bulgarian manufacturer, simply because the mask is definitely a "Hemus" model:

However, the mouthpiece appears to have a shorter neck than is the case with the J-shaped snorkel mouthpiece in the album of images I mentioned at the beginning of this message.

As I stated earlier, this may be the final contribution to the Bulgarian thread. I'll be moving on next to a review of basic diving equipment in Poland during the era of their own People's Republic.