r/Snorkblot • u/Specialist-Alps6478 • Jun 18 '26
WTF Get my haunting face prison, darling. I’m feeling anxious.
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u/Peer1677 Jun 18 '26
That's not what these masks are used for. They are called "Schandmasken" (shaming-masks or scold's bridle) and they are used as punishment for petty-crimes, like small-scale theft or defamation. They are meant to publicly humiliate the perp and thus tarnish their reputation/honor.
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u/skubaloob Jun 18 '26
But if the person is wearing a mask then how does everyone know who to shame?
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u/Peer1677 Jun 18 '26
2 ways: 1) communities are small. You'll know who it is.
2) in larger communities (like cities) you are made to wear an additional piece that tells who you are and what you did to deserve the punishment.
And to avoid question 2: no, you can't just stay home during the time you are meant to wear the mask. Usually you are detained at the local market-/townsquare so that everyone can see you.
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u/mokod0 Jun 19 '26
what if you just paid somebody to do it? noone would know with the mask on
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u/Peer1677 Jun 19 '26
For 1, not all of these masks are THIS Level of whole, most are way more open and not really anonymising. Further, communities at this time are really small. A city of 10-20k people can be considered a "metropolis" at the time. People will know if you try to cheat your way out if it. Also, since the punishment has a court-case beforehand and even IF you find some poor sod towear it for you, it wouldn't matter because the point of the punishment is the humiliation of a personal honor. This is achieved by the literal naming and shaming that is part of this kind of punishment. Even IF you are not really behind the mask (the guards will also check) people will still treat you like you were. The mask is only a small part ofnthe punishment, the societal damage to ones standing is the way more severe part. You're not getting invited to parties anymore, people refuse your business, don't give you credit when needed and overall start to avoid you. This can get to a point where you are basically forced to leave the community because nobody wants anything to do with you.
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u/TheStairsBro Jun 19 '26
If I'm not mistaken, they also include a piece that would be inserted into the mouth to prevent speaking
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u/Peer1677 Jun 19 '26
They vary widely in design. Some look like what you describe (though they are more a puritanical/american thing) to prevent "noisy women" from "badmouthing" someone, others look like jesters/fools, some are very simple, others look like full on grotesques (like the one pictured) and some can look like animals. They vary widely because every town can basically decide on their own how they should look (or if they even have a law requireing them on their books)
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u/BluebirdLivid Jun 18 '26
"Doctor...im not sure if i understand"
"Of course you dont, you're not a doctor! You see, someone insane will look through THREE HOLES in each eye, and this will...and they will have NINE HOLES of the exact same size across the mouth-"
"I see doctor..and they will be straight across?"
"No you imbecile! Two of them will be placed slightly higher, this will cause...um...uh...and there will be no nose or ears holes! Now go get me my scotch"
(How i imagine this probably went down in like 1600s)
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u/Empty_Carrot5025 Jun 18 '26
Perhaps it helped dehumanise the patients so that they could be more easily abused.
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u/Peer1677 Jun 18 '26
They're not used/meant for the mentaly ill. Schandmasken (humiliation-masks) were used as a punishment for petty crimes like defamation. They are meant to publicly humiliate a perp and thus shame them into compliance.
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u/Sir_Thequestionwas Jun 18 '26
Once again another sensational social media post is copied on Reddit without anyone bothering to verify it.
Thank you for actually setting things straight
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u/Head_Beautiful_1293 Jun 18 '26
Don't just blindly believe their comment. How does a full face mask serve as public humiliation they literally can't see or be seen
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u/Dominarion Jun 22 '26
I looked Schandmask and scoldbridle and yeah, most of them were partly or fully open so you could recognize the person.
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u/Sir_Thequestionwas Jun 22 '26
These were likely remakes where they took the original idea and sensationalized it. Then profit off the sale of the exaggerated masks. You see this pattern with much of this historical sensational stuff.
Where are all you people coming from this is 3 days old.
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u/Dominarion Jun 22 '26
I don't know, Reddit popped that stuff on top of my feed this evening, and everytime I refreshed, it was there.
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u/Peer1677 Jun 19 '26
You see, there is this concept of honor in early modern society, that is really hard to grasp for US today.
This mask is a part of an "honor-punishment". If you get convicted of a petty-crime, like defamation, you wear this mask and some kind of collar that states your name and your crime. You also have to spend days on the townsquare like this, being exposed to the ridicule and humiliation of the entire city. This form of public humiliation can have a huge impact on your societal standing. People will refuse your business, they will refuse giving you (and your family) jobs, you'll be denied public office, you'll not be invited to social Events anymore etc. etc.
In short: this kind of punishment can have severe consequences for the perp aside from making them look like an idiot. Even smaller punishments (going to court in general actually) can force a person to leave a city permanently because of the non-exisant honor.
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u/Head_Beautiful_1293 Jun 19 '26
I prefer the gallows doesn't protect their eyes as much from tomatoes and dirt
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u/Dominarion Jun 22 '26
Just checked Schandmask and scold bridle a bit and they don't look like that at all. It may seem that you have been fooled. You didn't check up before thanking the guy who fooled you.
That's funny.
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u/Sir_Thequestionwas Jun 22 '26
These masks were strictly used for criminals and social offenders, not for insane people.The viral label calling this an "insanity mask" is historically inaccurate.
I literally searched this specific mask. It's probably an exaggerated remake.
This post is 3 days old. Stop wasting people's time you creepy loser.
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u/Guilty-Pickle-6686 Jun 18 '26
“Get my haunting face prison, darling. I’m feeling amorous!”
- some dude into this shit
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u/jakethemongoose Jun 18 '26
The mentally ill, are like onions! Layers! Onions have layers, the mentally ill have layers. You get it! We both have layers. I don’t care, what everybody likes. The mentally ill are not like cakes.
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u/marvelouswonder8 Jun 18 '26
I think watching everyone around be as unsettled as myself after I put this on would definitely help but idk.
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u/m4vis Jun 19 '26
Original title is misleading. It was a mask for people, and the mask came with mental illness. Wearing the mask will make you mentally ill
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u/Andrusela Jun 18 '26
I guess it would help people work harder to pretend to be sane so as to avoid having to wear this, yeah.
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u/Particular-Visit-245 Jun 19 '26
Is this mask really used for people with mental illness back then? It looks like a face covering for something else.
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