"Some of us are very posh indeed"

Three air raid wardens wearing a new type of gas mask.
Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

There are many ways of reading character, and possibly a new one has come to light in the way a man or woman carries the gas mask. There is the man who still carries it sheepishly under his arm. There are some who still use the original string on the cardboard box. Most of us, however, have them slung over our shoulders in some sort of carriers, and some of us are very posh indeed.

Manchester Guardian, 5 October 1939

Text and photo credit to The Guardian.