Collier's aluminium respirator

Collier’s respirator was one of several patented designs for late 19th century metal mouth masks to claimed to prevent and treat respiratory illness. The purpose of using metal for the masks was to warm the air being breathed in by the wearer. Masks were particularly popular in cold weather as it was believed inhaling cold air into the lungs would cause respiratory illness and exacerbate chronic conditions such as asthma.
The first metal respirator was designed by the British surgeon, Julius Jeffreys, following the death of his sister from tuberculosis in 1838. However Jeffrey’s design proved was bulky and unpopular with wearers due to the difficulties of moving the mouth and communicating while wearing the mask.
Collier’s patented respirator claims to be an improvement on earlier versions by using aluminium on a lighter and less bulky design that allows for 'free conversation as if the mouth were uncovered'. It also differs from earlier masks in that it claims to prevent illnesses such as cold weather coughs, rather than just assist those with chronic illness. Competing patented designs in the mid-late 19th century also aimed to make the mask more attractive by offering different colours. Dr Lennox Browne designed a fashionable ‘respirator veil’ for ladies available to purchase at the London store Marshall & Snelgrove. This advertisement notes Collier’s respirators were sold with a Moroccan leather case to enhance their appeal.
Tuberculosis (also referred to as consumption), asthma and other lung diseases were the leading cause of illness and death in the 19th century industrial city. London’s poorest communities living and working in cramped, overcrowded conditions were most at risk of infectious lung conditions such as TB. However the design and sale of relatively expensive metal respirators such as Collier’s reflect the impact of poor air quality on all Londoners. Tuberculosis and asthma were no respecter of class and killed both rich and poor. Those born in London were distinguished from new arrivals to the capital by their unhealthy pallor, weak stature, a habit of talking louder than ‘outsiders,’ with a distinctive slang and accent affected by their need to breath heavily through their mouths due to their congested nasal passages. The skin, clothes and nostrils of Londoners were filled with a compound of powdered granite, soot and still more nauseous substances.
Metal respirators were marketed alongside other products and remedies that claimed to combat winter respiratory illnesses, for those that could afford them, including chest protectors, cod liver oil and camphor oil. Parks built on the outskirts of the inner city, including Victoria Park in Hackney were built to provide ‘a lung’ for all Londoners, rich and poor, wishing to escape the polluted inner city.
Despite Collier's claim that its respirator was the cheapest available it remained unaffordable to those suffering the most. The availability of respirators, alongside other improvements enjoyed by wealthier Londoners including modern well-ventilated homes with plumbing in the healthier suburbs indicate a growing polarisation between the health of the ‘better off’ and those who continued to live in cramped, unsanitary slum conditions, unable to change their circumstances or purchase medicines and remedies.