Fifty years of helmet collecting

 Fifty years on has me a little reflective regarding my hobby.  I've posted about a Japanese type 90 that I found (or helped find) on Guam in 1972.  And that's where the bug bit me.

I've been collecting ever since then.

I've had as many helmets pass through my collection as I have in it now.  Over the years I've more and more, tightened the focus of the collection to include only ground and naval combat helmets, of the 20th century.

Gone are the aviaition helmets, military police, para-military, armored vehicle, civil defense, parade helmets, gone are the experimentals, gone are the stray M1 liners.  The collection now is about as curated as it is going to get and I get a great deal of pleasure out of it.

The collection is mostly garden-variety plain Janes, though there are three or four real stand-outs.  I'm very happy with it.

Where I'm going with this is, when I came home from the Navy in 1974 I would go to militaria shows and gun shows, looking for helmets.  And truly, I thought that I was one of the only people who had such a hobby,  Slowly, I became aware that I was part of a very large community of collectors who had the same interest as I.  There weren't the wealth of books and guides that there are today, but people like the legenday Floyd Tubbs gave me some good initial advice and encouragement.

I have seen  tremendous growth in the hobby over five decades.  And with the internet, facebook, and other online groups, one can see that the hobby is growing and attracting younger and younger collectors all the time.

I remember the evening at a friend's house, when he introduced me to ebay, maybe 25 years ago...at that time ebay had been around for a couple of years.  I immediately entered "helmet", and was presented with 1,200 auctions.  Tonight, there are over 25,000 active helmet auctions.

With this growth have come some downsides, including skyrocketing prices, and the plague of fakery.  Fakery to the degree that it often seems pointless to shop for WWII German helmets, or unit marked M1 helmets.  I caution beginner collectors to do as much research as they can before considering the high-end items; there are a lot of sharks in the water.

Despite that, I'm happy to see the hobby growing, and one of my greatest satisfactions with this blog, and my helmet videos, is to share my insights and advice with the beginners...and be clear, I never refer to myself as an expert. I am far from that; rather, I call myself an "experienced beginner."

Why don't you share (in the comments) your favorite helmet-collecting story.

Let's continue collecting and continue keeping the hobby fun.

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection,

Mannie

The ideas of preservation, conservation, and restoration; a video

 

A short video about how I have taken my work home with me...so to speak,

Nazi Germany, M.40 tropenhelm (with postscript)

In the mid 1980s a dear friend's husband passed away, and she gave me a big box of the things that he  brought home from the war. The items were all German and included, a police shako (urban), map case, complete mess kit, swastika flags, banners and armbands, tinnies, etc.  When I protested that she could get considerable money for this box of treasure, she responded that if I didn't take it it was going out in the trash. 

Norma's husband was Clarence "Chappie" Chapman.  Chapman went overseas in November '44 with the 75th Infantry Division. He spent one month in Wales and then went to LeHavre France in December of '44.  His first action was on Christmas eve in Ardennes Forest.  He saw a considerable amount of action.

After VE day Chapman served in Reimes and was involved in occupation efforts, organizing units to go to Japan, and sending others home.  Along the way he had accumulated a large amount of souvenirs, including this nearly pristine m.40 tropenhelm.

Lightweight, effective, and handsome, the m. 40 tropical helmet was a popular item of headgear among the Nazi German forces fighting in tropical and arid climates, especially in North Africa.

Comprised of cotton duck covered cork this lightweight helmet provided cool protection against an unforgiving sun.

This helmet is particularly comfortable to wear and seems feather-light compared to a steel helmet.

The rear brim is longer that the front and provides good solar protection for the back of the neck.

It's a well-designed and well-constructed helmet with a great deal of attention to detail.

The lightweight but sturdy, green-dyed leather chinstrap is adjustable with a sliding square buckle.  I have seen many photos of this helmet in action, but never with the chinstrap deployed.

The chinstrap is easily removed by a hook attached to the liner band.

The tricolor shield is on the right side of the bowl...

and the  army insignia  is on the left.

Both shields are affixed to the bowl with brass wires that pierce the cork and cotton and are clinched tightly.

The headband is made of high grade leather.

The size and manufacturer are ink-stamped inside the band.

To provide air circulation (similar to the pickelhaube) there is a clever ventilator on the dome of the helmet.

It screws into the perforated receiver that communicates air to the inside.

The band is neatly stitched at the rear, and another indicator of size is apparent.

Felt provides padding behind the band.

The headband and felt are attached to a metal band that is affixed with loops and cotter pins.

The rim of the helmet is edged with high quality leather identical to that of the chinstrap.

And finally, here are some photos of the m.40 in action.

Here is the high-quality m.40 (right) contrasted with the cheaper, pressed felt m.42 (left).

Note the counterintuitive Magen David on this Kraut's Christmas tree.

Two nice manufacturing process photos.  Above, adhesive and duck being applied to the cork shell...

and the shields being applied to the finished product.

Check out the despondent member of the master race at the lower right.  It all looked so much more glorious on the recruiting poster, didn't it pal?

A heretofore unpublished photograph of Erwin Rommel - the "desert fox."

Clarence M. "Chappie" Chapman

US Army

1943-45

75th Infantry Division, service company, 290th Infantry

France, Belgium, Holland, Germany. A participant in the "Battle of the Bulge" and a recipient of the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

Postscript, September 2022:  not quite a year and a half ago, "Chappie's" wife Norma passed away.  She was a great friend and always enjoyed talking about her much-loved husband.

Norma was a tireless volunteer in our community, and was known as much for her keen sense of humor as she was for her compassion .  I met Norma back in the early eighties when we were both volunteers at our Public Museum.  We gave many tours together, and though I was considerably her junior, we became good friends. Norma had wonderful stories of a West Michigan when horse-drawn vehicles were still common on the Streets of her hometown, Sparta.

Truly, an exemplary member of "The Greatest Generation."

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Mannie

Fifty years of collecting, and trying to stay honest

 Here's something that I've been thinking about lately.

In this hobby of ours, too often opinion, folklore, and conjecture masquerade as fact. 

Last night I went through my collection of helmet books.  I was disappointed, though not surprised, that only one of them cited primary sources and gave attributions.  That book was Tin Lids, by Roger Lucy.

Many of those who trumpet their expertise on the subject, don't adhere to the basics of research methodology, that is, they cite no sources for their assertions.  Anecdotal accounts from "vets" are a poor substitute for primary sources...memories change, facts and details become fuzzy, conjecture trumps actual memory.  This is not to say that first-hand memories are valueless - they are good supplemental material, but they are no substitute for documentation

I'm looking at my collection of helmet books very differently now, and some, because of the author's lack of scholarship, or damaged reputation, have been rendered little more than pretty pictures bound in glossy covers.  Pretty pictures of helmets which may or may not be legitimate.

Many of the biggest names in the hobby (though all too often they have reduced the hobby to little more than an investment opportunity) eschew primary sources, and instead, anoint themselves arbiters of what is known, or what can be known, about the subject of helmets...and presto!  their conjecture becomes gospel, endlessly quoted, re-quoted, and self-quoted, in a circular manner.  Also noteworthy is that some leading authorities in the hobby have lost their reputations due to their willing participation in the promotion and sales of counterfeit and faked helmets.

As a beginning collector, it is very important not to be dazzled by an expert's resume.  Without citing primary sources they are merely peddling their opinions.  Personally, I find conjecture an incredibly tedious waste of my time.  When you seek out information, embrace your skepticism, and avoid getting "star-struck" by the heavy-hitters in the hobby.

Of course that applies  as well to the information that you glean from this blog.  Seldom do I cite sources, but equally seldom do I dabble in conjecture.  I tell you what I know or what is self-evident, I qualify any opinions as just that,  do a walk-around of photos, and provide "action shots" for context.

I also invite "comments and corrections."

In this blog, and in all of my helmet videos, I state up front that I am not an "expert" but only an experienced beginner. As of this year, I have been actively collecting helmets for fifty years, starting with a Japanese type 90 that I found when I was stationed on Guam in 1972 (here).  Despite this longevity in the hobby, I am still learning and trying to learn.

Without scholarship, this hobby becomes merely folkloric; and for me, that makes the hobby less fun...and if a hobby isn't fun, then what's the point of it all?

Keep collecting, keep investigating, and keep having fun.

See you next time with another cool helmet from the collection.

Mannie