Day of the Jackal

In 1902, my great-grandfather, Gaius Lewis Merrell, submitted the invention below to the U.S. Patent Office. His "new and useful Improvement in Masks" came with this explanation:

This invention has for its object to produce in a simple and inexpensive way from a flat blank a shaped mask which is suitable for the amusement of children.

I'm not sure exactly what kind of animal it is. The accompanying paperwork said it might represent "the face of a wolf or similar animal," so he wasn't even sure. I'm going with jackal, since that's what it most looks like to me. And what could a kid want more than that?

As for the amusement part, I tried cutting and folding a full-size version several years back, and even with the detailed instructions, it was a complicated and barely successful process. So it didn't quite live up to its billing on that front.

The one thing I was impressed with is that it did hold its three-dimensional shape without using any glue or tape. And let's not forget that jackal thing, which is pretty darn cool.