Basic gear from mid-twentieth-century Italy: Mares and Pirelli

[David Wilson]

Having no access to a 1962 Pirelli underwater catalogue, let us proceed directly to 1963:

So there is the Tritone, bottom left as before, but with a caption this time: "TRITONE (m.r.). Con ghiera metallica e vetro trapezoidale; ampio camp visivo. L. 1.500." (TRITONE. With metal band and trapezoidal window; large visual field. L. 1,500). I'm afraid I can't shed any light on the meaning of the Italian abbreviation "m.r." Can anyone chip in with a possible expansion? At least we now have a more precise definition of the mask shape: trapezoidal.

In terms of the geometrical shapes above, the Tritone probably qualifies as a rounded isosceles trapezoid, but let us not be overly technical.

1964

No change there in the description or price of the mask top left.

1965

A splash of colour at last, light blue. Same description, however, with a small price hike.

 

[David Wilson]

From the mid to the late 1960s, the Pirelli Tritone drifted on regardless and unmodified.

1966

1967

1968

And then the Pirelli Tritone faded from the scene as the tide of history moved inexorably in the direction of kidney-shaped diving masks.

That is plenty for today. The Pirelli "Egeo", a mask born in 1959 and in production until in the mid-1970s, will have our full attention at the weekend. Stay well and safe as a Christmas approaches that will doubtless be very different from any we have experienced in recent times, thanks to COVID-19.

 

[Sifossifoco]

I'm afraid I can't shed any light on the meaning of the Italian abbreviation "m.r."

M.R. should stand for Marchio Registrato (Registered Trademark). In fact, in later catalogues it is possible to see M.R. replaced by the modern ® symbol.

 

[Angelo Farina]

"m.r." stands for Marchio Registrato, aka Trademark, or better Registered Trademark ®

Whoops! I did see only after posting that the same info had been already posted by @Sifossifoco ...

 

[lowwall]

Your American readers also immediately recognized the "(m.r.)" in its Spanish formulation "marca registrada" from its appearance on bilingual packaging.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for the explanation of the Italian abbreviation "m.r.", guys. And thanks to everybody for the likes.

We'll move on to the Pirelli Egeo diving mask. "Egeo" is Italian for "Aegean" as in the name of the sea between the Greek Balkanian and Turkish Anatolian peninsulas (above). So far as am I aware, the Egeo made its début in 1959.

1959

There it is, the dark red mask in the middle of the page. It was also available in light blue or green, depending on stock, with a price tag of 830 lire. A plain, no-nonsense mask with a split head strap but without a metal retaining band or compensator device.

1960

No change then except for a 10 lire price rise and the additional availability of the mask in black. In 1961, the colour range for the Egeo changed to light blue, yellow and black.

1963

No change.

1964

So a product description, albeit terse, at last: "All-rubber, with an oval window".

 

[David Wilson]

1965 also came with a product description:

Same message as before, "all-rubber, oval window". And a price hike to 900 lire.

1966

No change then, including price.

1967

Ditto.

1968

Ditto again!

 

[David Wilson]

By the 1970s, Pirelli was beginning to rationalise its underwater range and deploying its "Ulixes" brand to do so. In 1974, however, the Egeo was still in production:

There it is at No. 10. And here are the product descriptions:

The caption reads in Italian: "Egeo. 10) Di tutta gomma, con vetro ovale. Colore azzurra. Imballa di spedizione: scatole da 20 pezzi." (Egeo. 10) All rubber, with oval window. Light blue colour. Shipping packaging: boxes containing 20 pieces.)

And there we finish for today. Midweek will bring a review of the Pirelli "Ippocampo" mask and possibly the "Eolo" as well. So ci vediamo! In the meantime, stay safe and well. Only a few days until Christmas Day, which will mean the most severe Coronavirus restrictions yet in the East and South East of England. My area of the country will be in a less rigorous tier of restriction for a change, but still one imposing limits on people wanting to have Christmas dinner with their relatives.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks, АлександрД!

We move on now to the Pirelli Ippocampo diving mask. "Ippocampo" is Italian for "seahorse" (above). The word is also Italian for "hippocampus", a major component of the human brain.

The Pirelli Ippocampo appears to have made its début in 1959:

It is top right on the catalogue page. Note the long sides with the strap buckles set far back and close to the face. As such, this mask is reminiscent of other Italian manufacturers' models we have already met, e.g. the Cressi Sirena (right below):

or the Mares 1244, right column, second down, below:

Note too the absence of a metal retaining band around the Ippocampo mask lens, meaning the hidden groove in the rubber rim of the mask body is all that is keeping the glass from falling out. The mask stumbled on until 1960, after which it seems to have gone out of production:

As you can see, just the price is given, namely 1,170 lire.

 

[David Wilson]

Let us now deal with the Pirelli Eolo mask. This model also first appeared in 1959 but remained in production rather longer than the Ippocampo did. "Eolo" is Italian for "Aeolus". In Greek mythology, Aeolus (Ancient Greek: Αἴολος, Aíolos, "quick-moving, nimble") was a son of Poseidon by Arne, daughter of Aeolus. He had a twin brother named Boeotus. Here are the pages in the 1959 catalogue faturing the Eolo mask:

There it is, the second model down on the left. A plain mask by the look, smaller and less high-volume than the Ippocampo. But there is also a caption to the Eolo mask on the previous page: "di plastica con cinghiolo di gomma, per ragazzi" (made of plastic, with rubber strap, for youngsters). Pirelli is probably best known as a general rubber goods manufacturer, less so as a maker of plastic products. By way of contrast with today's values and practices, however, the use of plastics in the mid-twentieth century often suggested that saving money outweighed cutting-edge technology in the mind of the purchaser. Youngsters back then would have "made do" with a plastic product, knowing that they would outgrow it in time and eventually replace it with a better-skirted adult mask.

1960

The Eolo caption "per ragazzi, di plastica con cinghiolo di gomma (imballo in sacchetto di polietilene)" translates roughly as "for youngsters, plastic with rubber strap (packed in polyethylene bag)".

1963

No change

1964

No change there in the description or price of the mask bottom left.

1965

A price rise to 650 lire for the mask top right, now shown in colour.