Circus Chick - Servel Refrigerator - Servel Silverline Circus promotional giveaway mask (1940s)

A rare survivor from the golden age of appliance advertising, this whimsical “Circus Chick” paper mask was issued in the 1940s as part of the Servel Silverline Circus promotion.

Servel, best known for their modern motorless refrigerators, often leaned into playful, family-friendly advertising campaigns to make household appliances exciting in a rapidly modernizing America. The Silverline Circus theme was one of their most creative — transforming ordinary kitchen sales into a carnival of characters and giveaways. This mask, shaped as a bright-eyed chick, carried the Servel name boldly across the forehead, a constant reminder of the brand’s promise: “Stays Silent! Never Makes a Peep!”

Distributed by Servel dealers as free promotional giveaways, masks like this were meant to delight children while subtly reinforcing brand loyalty in the household. Most were discarded after play, making surviving examples scarce today. This particular mask not only represents a quirky piece of appliance advertising history but also embodies the crossover appeal of circus imagery and mid-century Americana ephemera.

Date: 1940s
Maker/Advertiser: Servel Inc. – Silverline Circus Promotion
Size: 8" x 11"
Rarity: Scarce — few advertising giveaway masks survive outside company archives.