students camouflaged in annual campus flour fight

Above Absurdities abound. This news photograph, from the Guthrie Daily Leader in Guthrie OK (May 25, 1920, p. 4), purports to show freshman students at the University of Pennsylvania, who have “camouflaged themselves for the annual flour fight.” 

RELATED LINKS    

Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? /  Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage /  Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage /  Optical science meets visual art /  Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness /  Under the big top at Sims' circus

WWI camouflaged clowns perform at the French front

Above Photograph from a news article titled HERE’S SIDESHOW TO WAR’S BIG TENT in the Perth Amboy [New Jersey] Evening News (September 4, 1917). The caption reads—

These clowns [presumably French or American soldiers] show camouflage in a lighter vein at the French front. They are making themselves “look like what they ain’t” in order to mix a little play with the grim work of the poilus. They were professional clowns before the war, and have dressed in improvised costumes to entertain their comrades.

See also essay / booklet on Under the Big Top at Sims’ Circus: Ship Camouflage Behind the Scenes in WWI.

RELATED LINKS    

Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? /  Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage /  Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage /  Optical science meets visual art /  Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness /  Under the big top at Sims' circus

Boston police find gun camouflaged as a pocket knife

Above Photograph from a news article titled PISTOL CAMOUFLAGED AS A KNIFE WHICH WAS DISCOVERED BY THE BOSTON POLICE in the Albuquerque Morning Journal (January 5, 1920, p. 2). The caption reads—

A weapon cunningly contrived to suit the criminal’s purposes was discovered recently by the Boston police. It is a pistol camouflaged as a pocket knife. The knife is about four inches long with a blade half an inch shorter. On the underside is a chamber which holds a 22 calibre cartridge. This is pushed back into the knife handle after loading. A spring activated lever is in the top of the knife. To fire the pistol this lever is pulled out. On snapping back it fires the cartridge.

RELATED LINKS    

Dazzle Camouflage: What is it and how did it work? /  Nature, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Women's Rights, and Camouflage /  Embedded Figures, Art, and Camouflage / Art, Gestalt, and Camouflage /  Optical science meets visual art /  Disruption versus dazzle / Chicanery and conspicuousness /  Under the big top at Sims' circus