Mav 1. 'i921 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



571 



Rubber Masks and Faces 



A New and Interesting Development 



ANEW USE of rubber which marks a revohitionary change in 

 theatrical productions is the rubber face worn by various 

 actors. With it, the wearer may simulate a thousand char- 

 acters and repriidiice even tlie mnst fleeting expressions of the 



original's countenance. 

 Invented to meet an ur- 

 gent need in the moving 

 picture industry, the new 

 art is apparently des- 

 tined for service in a far 

 wider field and in a more 

 enduring manner. 



The rul>ber face was 

 devised by Alexander 

 Hall, a sculptor, who ob- 

 served that even the 

 most ingenious make-up 

 fails to give an actor the 

 true facial contour and 

 lineaments of the char- 

 acter he assumes, and 

 that great dilificulty is 

 experienced in preparing 

 animated grotesque fig- 

 ures for the films. Mr. 

 Hall hit upon the plan of 

 making not merely falsa 

 faces, but also heads and 

 One of the newer rubber 

 intrusted with the prac- 



He.\d, I'ACE AXD Neck Mask 



necks of one piece of rubber cuticle. 

 companies in Southern California was 

 tical working out of the problem. 



The mode of manufacture is as follows : A type of character 

 having been modeled in clay, the bust is varnished and then dipped 

 in a fine Para rubber solution, the process resembling that used 

 in the making of rubber gloves. The rubber covering of the clay 

 bust is cured and rolled ofif the form. Then, filled with sawdust, 

 it is touched up in colors, and a wig. beard, etc., added. Puffed 

 cheeks are made by repeatedly dipping those parts, or by addi- 

 tional coats of rubber. Rolls of flesh about the neck are ob- 

 tained with cotton padding, over which the rubber stretches, or, 

 where much distension is desired, by making inflatable double 

 sections. 



When the eyes in the face are slitted, so fine is the cuticle that 

 it fits upon the eyelids and allaws them to be opened and closed 

 with almost natural freedom. The illusion is heightened by the 

 rubber curving inside the lips and slightly into the nostrils, suit- 

 able apertures being left to allow the wearer to breathe and speak 

 with ease. In fact, the rubber article, unlike the old type of false 

 face, by reason of its mobile, pliable quality, adapts itself in an 

 almost uncanny way to the muscles of the face and permits of 

 almost endless expression. A "speaking likeness" may thus be- 

 come a reality, and an effigy of anyone made by this process may, 

 many a year hence, be as easily quickened as is a phonographic 

 record of their voice, and have even greater historical value. 



It is prophesied that uses other than those of the stage are 

 likely. For mstance, the celebrities of a century that pose only 

 for the patrons of Madame Tussaud's Wax Works in London or 

 the Musee Grevin in Paris, could be duplicated in rubber, tinted, 

 etc., like the plastic originals and displayed everywhere with the 

 advantage in favor of the rubber faces, which can be animated at 

 will. Its possibilities in historical pageantry and theatrical pro- 

 ductions are endless, while the educational value of it is self- 

 evident. 



It is conceivable that the new rubber art may even greatly en- 

 hance the usefulness of another new art — that of photo-sculpture, 

 aiad cause to be placed in innumerable schools, museums, homes 

 and public buildings, life-like replicas in rubber (instead of 

 "dead" plaster casts) of the statues of living notables made l)j 

 tlic ingenious process invented by Professor J. Hammond Smith 

 of the University of Pittsburgh, and wliereby any face, figure, or 

 object may be swiftly molded in clay, and every feature por- 

 trayed with photographic exactness. Shadow lines in network 

 are first cast by stereopticon upon the figure placed on a rotat- 

 ing stand; the figure is then photographed from various angles 

 (as was done in six minutes with President Harding as the sub- 

 ject) ; the developed photographs are then projected on the mass 

 of clay put in place of the figure on the revolvable stand, and tile 

 modeler tlius guided, fashions his material with an ease and ac- 

 curacy unknown to old-time sculptors. 



Though few may have remarked them, yet multitudes have al- 

 ready seen the new rubber masks. Two of the "Four Horsemen 



Rubber Masks in "The Four Horsemen" 



of the Apocalypse," a recent motion picture production, employ 

 the rubber face-covering in a strikingly realistic representation 

 of Famine and Death riding in a cloud over the victims of Con- 

 quest and War. 



IMPROVED BURRS FOR RUBBER HEELS 



The reference to heel burrs on page 489 in the April issue 

 of this journal is somewhat misleading, as the inference might 

 be drawn that the burrs manufactured had eccentric holes and 

 ragged edges. A leading manufacturer claims that its burrs are 

 and always have been of good quality with central holes and good 

 edges ; they are flat, not dished, making them easy to handle. — 

 J. H. Sessions & Son. Bristol, Connecticut. 



REMOVING GIANT PNEUMATICS 



By pushing the valve stem inside and taking a piece of 

 steel thin enough to insert between the rim and the tire, so 

 that it runs through to the permanent rim on the other side, 

 the rim can be removed. Use a hammer and drive the steel 

 around the rim from stem to stem to loosen the tire and it 

 will fall off easily. Then grease the rim to remove all rust. 

 — Tirr Surgeon. 



