Eddie Rickenbacker (right) and Fred McCarty in Peugot racing gear. While driving for Peugeot, Rickenbacker invented a way to communicate with his riding mechanic over the roar of the engines by connecting two leather face masks together with rubber speaking tubes. While this worked well, he gave up the idea after deciding the masks were "unbearably hot and itchy." Caption reads, "Our Latest Gemini Astronauts? No, not from our next projected space flight, but from another era, the two gentlemen behind the masked are Eddie Rickenbacker (r) and Fred McCarty (l), driver and mechanic of a Peugeot race car during the 1914 Corona, Calif. road race. The use of leather face masks to protect themselves against flying pebbles necessitated the use of speaking tubes to keep in constant communication. With crash helmets and dark goggles, their appearance is truly "out of this world"."
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