Dorchester Illustration of the Day no. 1935
Today’s illustration shows Dorchester resident Mark Ridge in Cambridge, MA, in an early version of a pressure suit ready for a test in cold temperatures. Known as an aviator and daredevil, Ridge was testing a suit designed to protect him against the extreme cold of the upper ethers. The temperature in the tank was 110 degrees below zero, which did not bother him, but his test was short-lived. As carbonated gas from the ice penetrated his mask, he had to leave the tank shortly after he entered it. This press photo seems to be dated December 1948.
Wikipedia in the topic Pressure Suit says: In 1931, American Mark Ridge became obsessed with breaking the world altitude record in an open gondola balloon. Recognizing that the flight would require specialised protective clothing, he visited the UK in 1933 where he met with Scottish physiologist John Scott Haldane, who had published a concept for a fabric full pressure suit in the 1920s. The two sought the assistance of Robert Henry Davis of Siebe Gorman, the inventor of the Davis Escape Set, and with Haldane’s and Davis’ resources a prototype suit was constructed. Ridge tested it in a low-pressure chamber to a simulated altitude of 50,000 feet. However, he received no support for further work and never made his attempt on the world record
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