Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Italy: Cressi

[David Wilson]

The snorkels in Cressi's 1947 catalogue were integrated into diving masks. We shall leave such combined snorkel masks for later in this thread. Cressi's first standard mouthpiece-fitted breathing tube was the Delfino, which appeared in the company's 1953 catalogue:

Italian: "Il 'Delfino' ... consiste in un tubo di materia plastica e un gomito di gomma, il tutto a forma di J. L'estremità più lunga è libera, o volendo, può essere munita di valvola di chisura, l'altra è munita di boccaglio per essere comodamente tenuta in bocca e permettere la respirazione con il viso immerso durante la fase di ricerca e di osservazione."
Rough translation: "The 'Delfino' (Italian for 'Dolphin') consists of a plastic tube and a rubber elbow, all in the shape of a letter 'J'. The longer end is open, or if desired, it can be supplied with a shut-off valve, while the other is supplied with a mouthpiece to be retained comfortably in the mouth and to enable breathing when face down in the water during the search and observation stage."

Note the angle of the breathing tube and how far back its keeper is positioned when in use in figures 4 and 5, something of a necessity when deploying an early 1950s diving mask with long, tall sides tapering to a head strap beginning above the ears.

Here's the Delfino in the 1955 edition:

Italian: "DELFINO. Come utile e indispensabile complemento alle maschere classiche, si usa il respiratore «Delfino». Consiste in un tubo di materia plastica e un gomito di gomma o di Vipla, il tutto a forma di J. L’estremità più lunga e libera, l’altra è munita di boccaglio per essere comodamente tenuta in bocca e permettere la respirazione con il viso immerso durante la fase di ricerca o di osservazione."
Rough translation: "DELFINO. The 'Delfino' snorkel serves as a useful, indeed indispensable complement to classic masks. It consists of a plastic tube and a rubber or PVC elbow, all in the shape of a letter J. The longer end is open, while the other is supplied with a mouthpiece to be retained comfortably in the mouth and to enable breathing when face down in the water during the research or observation stage.

 

[David Wilson]

When 1959 dawned, two versions of the Defino appeared among the offerings:

The standard Delfino remained unchanged, complete with an open-topped straight plastic barrel and a rubber U-bend terminating in a mouthpiece.

The new alternative "Delfino con corrugato" model came with an open-topped J-shaped plastic tube fitted with a short-necked convoluted rubber mouthpiece. The bellows-like corrugations separating the barrel socket from the mouthpiece proper enhanced the suppleness, and hence the comfort, of the parts held within the oral cavity.

No change in 1964 for the standard Delfino, but a new variant with a concertina-style mouthpiece:

The Delfino C.E. was topped with an inverted U-bend, presumably to lessen the impact of spray or to enable a shut-off valve to be fitted if desired.

In 1966, the standard version is renamed the Delfino Flex, while the Delfino C.E. is described as "orientabile" imferring adjustability:

By 1969, the Delfino C.E. appears to have been discontinued, leaving the original Delfino model with a "luxury" variant:

 

[David Wilson]

The standard and de-luxe Delfinos appeared thus in the 1973 catalogue:

Meanwhile, a scaled-down Junior version had joined the range to accommodate the younger generation:

Health and safety concerns had come to the fore with the dimensioning of mouthpieces and the selection of non-allergenic materials.

No new surprises in 1974:

Or in 1976:

 

[David Wilson]

The image above is an auction picture for a standard Delfino model. The Cressi Delfino snorkel, or more precisely, the Cressi Delfino snorkel range, has left its impact on mid-twentieth-century European snorkel manufacturing and manufacturers. I remember purchasing this Typhoon breathing tube in the mid-1960s when I attended my university sub-aqua club:

The resemblance of the British-made Typhoon T4 snorkel to the Cressi Delfino cannot be coincidental, particularly because Typhoon carried Cressi products. Then there is the Gagum snorkel made in Hungary before the demise of communism there:

And as for the concertina-style mouthpiece of the "alternative" Delfino, there's Beuchat's once flagship snorkel, the "Silent V", from France:

Beuchat's breathing tube received mixed reviews in a Which? Consumer Report of 1965, however:

Enough for today and thanks for the number of likes, guys! Keep them coming and I'll keep going with another Cressi snorkel review at the weekend. Preparing this stuff sure makes my day pass more swiftly now that the government has confined us to barracks here in the UK for the duration of the COVID crisis.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks again for the likes. Now for Cressi's second-oldest snorkel, the Caraibi. "Caraibi" is Italian for "Caribbean". Here is the page in Cressi's 1955 catalogue where the snorkel is introduced:

Here's a rough translation:

There you have a brief description of the Caraibi. Basically a Delfino snorkel topped with a float valve. The page goes on to explain the purpose of the snorkel keeper and the operation of the shut-off valve. The latter was originally designed by Luigi Ferraro, who is also credited with the invention of the Cressi Pinocchio mask and the Cressi Rondine fin. Here is the 1957 US patent drawing of the prototype, which was primarily intended to top a snorkel-mask:

 

[David Wilson]

Just as Cressi's 1959 catalogue came with two versions of the Delfino snorkel above, so it featured two varieties of the Caraibi below:

The standard Caraibi remained unchanged, complete with a valve-topped straight plastic barrel and a rubber U-bend terminating in a mouthpiece.

The new alternative "Caraibi con corrugato" model came with a valve-topped J-shaped plastic tube fitted with a short-necked convoluted rubber mouthpiece. The bellows-like corrugations separating the barrel socket from the mouthpiece proper enhanced the suppleness, and hence the comfort, of the parts held within the oral cavity.

The 1964 Cressi catalogue only offered the standard Caraibi fitted with a rubber elbow ending in a mouthpiece:

The 1966 catalogue, however, provided both versions of the Delfino and Caraibi snorkels:

 

[David Wilson]

A temporary respite, however. For the remainder of its service life, only the standard Caraibi model was available. Here it is in the 1969 catalogue:

And in 1973:

1974:

1976:

The standard Cressi Caraibi snorkel had its imitators, even in modern times. The "Semplice con valvola" (plain with valve) below is a modern classic breathing tube topped with a shut-off valve and manufactured by Francis sub of Regalbuto on the Italian island of Sicily. The Semplice con valvola was on sale several years ago from Italian online retailers Bellinogiocattoli.it and Brillantegiochi.com. Sadly, I can't even confirm whether this piece of kit is in or out of production, particularly now that Italy is languishing under strict COVID-19 lockdown.

Well, that's today's quota done, dusted and posted. I'll be back mid-week with a further batch of Cressi snorkels, which made their début as relative latecomers during the 1960s. Stay safe!

 

[Ripley]

Only now discovering this part of SB.
I simply LOVE these historical posts. So interesting to see the evolution from back then towards the equipment as we know it now.

 

[David Wilson]

Delighted with your response, Ripley, which makes my efforts so much more worthwhile, and thank you too for the likes, АлександрД.

Onward to the rest of Cressi's period snorkel range. Cressi. While the Delfino and the Caraibi emerged during the early 1950s, today's first two offerings were relative latecomers, making their début in 1966. Here's the Aerusa:

So a flexible-hose type breathing tube, said to be favoured by scuba divers because its mouthpiece completely drops out of the way when unused. Note the by now familar trademark Cressi snorkel keeper. As for the name "Aerusa", I'm left wondering whether this might be Cressi's way of acknowledging Dick Bonin's invention of the flexible-hose snorkel in the USA in the mid-1950s. Scubapro founder Bonin worked for Healthways, which then served as Cressi's sole agent in North America.

No change was forthcoming in 1969:

But 1973 brought more detail to the product description:

"ARA" stands for "autorespiratori ad aria" Italian for compressed-air breathing apparatus. See what I mean about the flexible-hose snorkel design being considered scuba-friendly? Note too how 1970s snorkels were usually topped with a fluorescent orange or yellow band to alert other water users to the presence of divers. A German Standard of 1980 required all snorkels to be fitted with these warning bands.

1974:

The 1973 description copied verbatim with a little colour to relieve the monochrome.

1976:

The flexible-hose snorkel is still around in modern Italy, as witness the Sicilian-made Francis Corrugato below:

 

[David Wilson]

Today's second Cressi snorkel for review is the Francaer, which appeared in 1966 and then vanished:

Note the double curvature, creating an "S" shape for the breathing tube. No valve affixed to the top end, but period images do show such snorkels being used without valves, presumably because the downwards bend at the supply end reduced water ingress from spray.

Two more snorkels to go. First, the Cressi Rex, introduced in 1973:

So an L-shaped snorkel complete with a luminous top band and an offset mouthpiece.

No change for 1974:

And some mistranslation in 1976:

Rendering "in gomma nera" as "in black cover" is sloppy, when it means "in black rubber" and as for "bended", oh dear. Cressi's translator was clearly having an off day.

Today's final snorkel is the Gringo, introduced in 1976:

While the Rex relies on a barrel with a bend at the bottom to create its "L" shape, the similarly "L"-shaped Gringo comes with a straight barrel and a rubber elbow moulded in the form of a "U" bend fixed to the demand end.

That's it for Cressi's mid-twentieth-century snorkel range. We'll proceed to Cressi snorkel-masks next time.