The Green County Historical Museum's military section has a sniff kit donated in 1964 by the late Nat Preston (1897-1978) of Monroe. The sniff kit shown here was designed as a training tool to provide an easy and safe method of identifying the five principal gases used in chemical warfare.
The sniff kits were developed in cooperation with the Office of Civilian Defense and the Chemical Warfare Service of the U.S. Army for use by state, county and local Defense Councils, as well as police and fire departments.
During 1942 there was some concern that the enemy might try to bring the war to America's shores. These kits were distributed in case the enemy attacked with gas.
The $5 kits contained five glass bottles with ground stoppers, charged with smells that simulated the following gases: tear, mustard, phosgene, chloropicrin and lewisite. Each of the five bottles was labeled with simple information describing the physiological effect of the active gas; first aid steps for treating victims; field neutralization methods, the U.S. Army symbols and the commonly used abbreviated names to assist people in memorizing them.
- Submitted by John Glynn of the Green County Historical Society
The sniff kits were developed in cooperation with the Office of Civilian Defense and the Chemical Warfare Service of the U.S. Army for use by state, county and local Defense Councils, as well as police and fire departments.
During 1942 there was some concern that the enemy might try to bring the war to America's shores. These kits were distributed in case the enemy attacked with gas.
The $5 kits contained five glass bottles with ground stoppers, charged with smells that simulated the following gases: tear, mustard, phosgene, chloropicrin and lewisite. Each of the five bottles was labeled with simple information describing the physiological effect of the active gas; first aid steps for treating victims; field neutralization methods, the U.S. Army symbols and the commonly used abbreviated names to assist people in memorizing them.
- Submitted by John Glynn of the Green County Historical Society