Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century France

[David Wilson]

On to the La Spirotechnique Naso mask.

La Spirotechnique Naso mask

This mask is in La Spirotechnique's catalogue because the French company also carried the products of the Italian diving equipment firm Technisub, which was headed by Luigi Ferraro, a combat swimmer during World War II. Ferraro had invented the Cressi Pinocchio mask years previously and the model still has a world record for length in production:

And here is the Soviet Union's response to the design, the Buratino, made in the "Mosrezina" factory in Moscow in the early 1970s:. They do say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

 

[David Wilson]

I'll move on to Spiro snorkels now. There were two models.

La Spirotechnique Spiro snorkel

The French caption tells us that this snorkel was created in 1963 and was a commercial success. This was an L-shaped design, considered an improvement on the traditional J-shape because there was less space for water to accumulate next to the mouthpiece. The side-mounted mouthpiece was described as a "clarinette" mouthpiece. Note the lanyard attached to the ring to be inserted between the tube and the mouthpiece. The lanyard was worn around the neck and was intended to provide extra security against snorkel loss.

The second Spiro snorkel was a flexible-hose model.

La Spirotechnique Spiroflex snorkel

This was an all-rubber affair and the caption points out the benefits of a semi-rigid tube, not least the ability to adapt the snorkel to any facial profile.

I'll finish here for today and am minded to move on to the Edouard Godel company next time.

 

[David Wilson]

So today's topic is Godel. When French diving equipment manufacturer Établissements Edouard Godel publicised its wares in the underwater hunting and exploration magazine L’Aventure Sous-Marine during the late 1950s, the firm’s advertisements invariably ended thus:

These company details begin with an acknowledgement of French naval officer Louis Marie de Corlieu, whose research on personal survival equipment at sea led to his development of the “propulseurs de natation et de sauvetage” (lifesaving and swimming propelling devices) he patented in April 1933. On 6 June 1933, French Admiralty observers stood by while de Corlieu demonstrated his invention. He swam eight kilometres during the six hours he spent in the 12 °C waters of Saint-Jean-de-Luz bay in southwestern France. Despite this feat, the French Navy rejected de Corlieu’s invention. However, while visiting Tahiti In 1937, American Olympic yachtsman Owen Churchill, saw de Corlieu’s “propulseurs” in action and was so impressed that he eventually traced the inventor to Algeria and obtained the rights to manufacture the devices within the USA. He later patented his own improved design for the devices, which he now called “swim fins”, and the rest is history.

Établissements Edouard Godel maintained a factory at 16 rue du Champ-Renié in St-Maur-des-Fossés in the southeastern suburbs of Paris. According to the Département du Val-de-Marne archives, a “Manufacture séquanaise de Caoutchouc” was established there in 1946 to fabricate rubber goods. The premises complete with exclusive manufacturing rights had passed from Commandant de Corlieu, whose workshop used to occupy the site. By the end of the 1950s, the factory’s diving products were not only being sold through sporting goods stores everywhere but also being procured by armed services at home and abroad. The French Navy’s “Groupe d’Études et de Recherches Sous-marines” (GERS) underwater unit was supplied with military-grade fins named “Propuls” in homage to the original “propulseurs” invented and demonstrated by Commandant de Corlieu but rejected by the country’s maritime authorities.

In the late 1950s, the Godel underwater range included a mask, goggles, three pairs of fins, mouthpieces, weight-belts and spearguns. You can see them below in the company's ads in L’Aventure Sous-Marine:

 

[David Wilson]

Let's focus first on Godel masks, leaving the company's fins for another time.

Godel Cyclope diving mask

The caption "Masque « Cyclope ». « Cyclope » masque moderne rectangulaire à très grande surface de visibilité. Brides fendues en deux, assujettissant parfaitement le masque, se met en place d’une seule main, ne s’écrase pas." translates roughly as "'Cyclope' (Cyclops) mask. The 'Cyclope' is a modern rectangular mask with a very large visibility area. The strap is split in two for perfect security of the mask, which can be donned using one hand and will not collapse." Back in the day, there was a preoccupation with mask collapse under the action of water pressure, while rectangular masks were reckoned to provide a more panoramic field of vision than ovals did.

"Cyclope" is French for "Cyclops". A cyclops in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology is a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the center of his forehead:

The word cyclops literally means "round-eyed" or "circle-eyed", which is a little odd in the case of the rectangular Godel Cyclope mask. Perhaps classical mythology wasn't Edouard Godel's strong point.

 

[David Wilson]

On to the second model in the Godel eyewear range.

Godel Explor goggles

The caption "Lunette « Explor ». « Explor » lunette de nage en surface, protège les yeux contre la contagion et l'irritation oculaire. Ne prend pas le nez." translates roughly as "'Explor' goggles. 'Explor' surface swimming goggles protect the eyes from infection and eye irritation. Excludes the nose." The "Explor" goes to show that mid-twentieth-century swimming goggles sometimes enclosed the eyes in a single unit instead of separate eyepieces. It appears to be a cut-down version of the "Cyclope" for surface swimmers.

 

[David Wilson]

Let's end today with Edouard Godel's French "Masque nautique" patent, FR1044187 (A) of 16 November 1953:

You will find the full text of the patent on Espacenet - Home page. As you can see from the drawing, the patent is for a diving mask fitted with with a snorkel. I have not found evidence so far of the marketing of this device by Godel.

We'll review Godel fins next time.

 

[JMBL]

Nice work collecting all that piece of info, bravo ! You're post is becoming more and more impressive.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks, JMBL! Your positive feedback is appreciated.

On now to Godel fins. As the successor to Louis de Corlieu, fins were Godel's flagship products. Here is the drawing from Edouard's 1946 patent entitled "Palme de natation" (In English, "swimming fin":

Although Godel decided against using Louis de Corleu's product description "propulseurs de natation" (swimming propellers), he nodded respectfully in the direction of his predecessor in the text of the patent, where he mentioned the potential of fins in water rescue. You will find the full text of the patent on Espacenet - Home page.

 

[David Wilson]

Godel acknowledged his predecessor once again when he manufactured his first fin and named it the "Propuls".

Godel Propuls fin

According to the Musée Dumas blog at Palmes d’hier et d’aujourd’hui (par Gérard Loridon), "Ces palmes vertes réalisées par Godel équipaient largement les plongeurs de loisirs du club Med entres autres, vers 1954. Vu leur souplesse et leur couleur apparentée à une marque célèbre, on les appelaient des « Savonettes »" [These green fins made by Godel were widely used among others by Club Med recreational divers Club around 1954. Given their flexibility and colour related to a famous brand, they were called 'Savonettes'."]

Here is a close-up of the inscription on the blades:

The embossed text pays tribute to Commandant de Corlieu's patented invention and acknowledges their life-saving role by calling them "nageoires de sauvetage" [rescue swimming devices] as Louis de Corlieu intended.

And here's how these fins appeared in the 1954 and 1955 catalogues of Lillywhites of London:

 

[David Wilson]

Godel also conferred the product name "Propuls" on a different model of fin designed for the French navy, distinguishing it from the softer original "Propuls" by adding "Type G.E.R.S." This acronym stands for "Groupe d'Études et de Recherches Sous-marines" [Underwater study and research group], which was the name by which France's combat swimmers were known from the 1950s to the early 1970s.

Godel Propuls Type G.E.R.S. fins

And here's how this model appeared in a French diving equipment catalogue:

Just two sizes, one for bare feet and one for wearing over bootees. There is a touch of irony in the fact that the French Admiralty ignored Louis de Corlieu's fins even when he successfully demonstrated their use during the 1930s, but adopted those created by his successor Edouard Godel during the 1950s for French combat swimmers.