Today's Tidbit... Football's Early Executioner's Masks

Broken noses were primarily relegated to football's past in the 1960s due to the widespread use of face masks. Before that, broken noses were common, so players, trainers, and equipment manufacturers developed methods to protect the proboscis or, at least, to keep them from further harm once injured. Noses went unprotected until 1892 when Harvard captain Arthur Cumnock developed a hard rubber device to protect a teammate's broken nose. Cumnock soon sold the rights to his invention to John Morrill, who refined and marketed Morrill Nose Guards or Nose Masks nationwide.

Morrill Nose Mask and mouthpiece in an early 1900s Spalding’s catalog.

Competitive products came along, but each was a variation on the nose guard theme, and it was not until 1921 that an entirely new form of facial protection arrived on the commercial scene with Goldsmith's No. 64 Nose Protector Head Harness, which covered the full face. This style became known as the Executioner's Mask.

No. 64 Nose Protector Head Harness (antiquefootball.com)

There were custom versions of the executioner's mask before and after Goldsmith's product entered the market. However, it was not until the 1920s that headgear became sufficiently rigid to support a helpful face mask.