Todays haul

[DaleC]

Here are two masks I found doing a lake dive today. Anyone have some info on them?

"Water sports" with Dauphin Dolphin across the brow. The rubber is in very bad shape.

No name as such. The rubber is very good and I think I will dive it once I wash it up.

And my current vintage mask. No writing on it but with two "John Deere" stags on each side of the rubber that I think indicates the White Stag company. Any info (links) on that manufacturer?

My buddies for the day also found a new $20 bill floating in the water and an old wallet with ID inside. I'm going to mail the ID to the owner for a laugh.

 

[james croft]

I have a similar oval mask and it is a White Stag if I remember correctly. I also had a set of WS fins to go with it. It was a good mask but mine developed dry rot. Seems like I got mine used in the mid 70's. I don't have a link for them but they have been around a while. Glad you guys found my $20.

 

[David Wilson]

Here's a link to a New York Times obituary of the White Stag Manufacturing Company's founder Harold Hirsch in 1990:
Harold Hirsch, 82; Started White Stag, Sportswear Concern - The New York Times

The origin of the "White Stag" name is interesting, at least to me as a linguist. The family firm, based in Portland, Oregon, was called the "Hirsch-Weis Company". Students of German will know that "Hirsch" means "stag", while "Weis", its last letter doubled to "Weiß", means "White" in that language.

White Stag manufactured outdoor gear, with a flagship line in skiwear. It also marketed a full line in diving gear, emblazoned with its distinctive logo:

and here's the front cover of one of their catalogues:

Both images appear on the page entitled " Lost In Time Vintage Scuba Tank Decals: Viking - White Stag" at
VDTdecalPage3

In a SB message of 13 February 2008, Luis H wrote: "White Stag has been out of the diving business for at least two probably three decades. They continued to exist with other sporting goods and sporting cloth." See:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/220980-need-information-white-stag-regulator.html

As for the masks you found, the first looks a lot older than the second, not just because of their respective states of repair, but because the first has a substantial top screw, while the second has the type of screw-less metal band that can still be found on vintage-style rubber-skirted masks that are still in production today. The French-English bilingual name "Dauphin Dolphin" of the first mask makes me think it may be of Canadian origin?

 

[Luis H]

The second mask looks like maybe a 1980’s version of the Aqua Lung Atlantis mask. The shape of the mask looks similar to the Pacifica that is still for sale by Aqua Lung. The picture below is from the Aqua Lung web site.

The Atlantis and the Pacifica used to be the same mask with the only difference that in the past the Pacifica had a purge valve assembly protruding from the glass and the Atlantis didn’t.

The yellow trim was fashioned on both masks in the late 70’s and 80’s.

Here is a link to the AL Pacifica page:
http://www.aqualung.com/us/content/view/125/216/

 

[DaleC]

You guys are great. Thanks for the links.