Beautiful Morrill brand football nose guard dating likely to the 1890s with original cloth strap. The first documented use of a protective face mask dates to 1889 when Harvard center John Cranston suffering from an injured nose created a wire mask which was strapped to his face with a rubber band around his head. The nose mask was developed by Arthur J. Cumnock in 1890. The Morrill brand of nose mask was devloped by the baseball player "Honest John" Morrill a fixture in the Old Judge baseball card set. Morrill began manufacturing nose masks after his retirement from baseball selling them through the 1891 Spalding and Wright & Ditson catalogs. The piece was made of a heavy rubber with air holes in the mouthpiece and a hefty $2.50 price tag. This example appears in VG condition largely intact the straps likely original. An excellent display piece highly sought after among advanced collectors.