Object in Focus - Gas Mask

This gas mask case was unofficially made in the card department of John Dickinson's Apsley paper mill where the owner's husband was working.

Cardboard boxes for gas masks were just one type or item that Dickinson's switched to making during the Second World War, along with blackout paper, bombers made of paper and even fuel pumps for aircraft.

During the war, Dacorum was recognised as a safer location than London and became a reception area for evacuees. Children were temporarily rehomed in many Dacorum towns and villages for the duration of the war.

Dickinson's accommodated employees' children from their Tottenham branch at Shendish Manor, the company's sports and social club.