Model 1881 U.S. Cavalry Helmet

Our last piece of retrospection before we launch back into the 20th century.
This is the full-dress version of the 1881 cavalry enlisted man's helmet, resplendent in yellow braid, horsehair plume, and gilt eagle and shield. The helmet was worn by all branches, the plumed versions only by mounted branches, each with a distinctive arm-of-service colored plume. Infantry wore the helmet with spike only.Yours truly with an 1881 artilleryman's helmet. Note the scarlet plume and crossed cannon motif. An interesting side by side comparison to two American helmets; the 1881 as a European clone, and the M1, that most distinctive and widely copied helmet of the last half of the 20th century.


The same helmet fitted with the more understated spike atop the rosette.

Holey-moley...what's going on here? When did this republic of democrats get so highfalutin?

Here we have, in 1881, a relatively new nation, the United States of America, flexing its post-Civil War muscles and trying to assert itself on the world stage. Then, as now, emerging nations looked to established world powers for cues regarding military fashion. Paper soldiers of the Franco-Prussian era demonstrate what was fashionable among the world's great military powers, the trendsetters, so to speak.
The spiked and plumed helmets of Europe evidently resonated with Generals Nelson Miles, Monty Meigs, and others in the high command of the U.S. Army. As a result this rather garish and impractical confection of pressed felt, gilt, and horsehair was foisted upon the troops.

Needless to say, as were all things European, it was generally viewed with suspicion, hostility, and contempt by the rank and file of the U.S. Army.




Drink in the splendor, the pomp, and the circumstance. Whether the troops hated it or not, spiked or plumed, this helmet would see service for 21 years, finally falling by the wayside at the turn of the 20th century, not coincidentally following the American triumph in the Spanish-American War. This victory on the world stage began America's assertion as a newly arrived world power, and provided an opportunity to cast off the trappings of "old Europe" (as a recent American leader termed it).




The details:

The interior is very simple, just a standard hat band. As this helmet is not meant to provide any sort of ballistic protection, there is no liner or suspension of any sort. Heck, this thing doesn't even provide any protection from the elements! Some models had small "pinwheel" ventilators, though most, like this example, were without any ventilation at all. Despite the very light weight of these helmets, they must have been particularly uncomfortable on hot days.

Under the band is stamped the manufacturers mark, in this case the well known maker: W.H. Horstmann, with a contract date of 1899. This is a very late contract date. I acquired this helmet in unissued condition. By the time of its manufacture its day had been eclipsed.


Although Franco-Prussian in form and appearance, the motifs were strictly yankee-doodle-dandy. The large front plate provides us with several American icons; the eagle, the shield of the Union, and the arm-of-service crossed sabers. No mistaking the nationality here...but wait, there's more.

The side buttons also drive home the cavalry identity...

and the plume holder repeats the eagle motif.

Even the hooks for the "chicken-guts" braid are smaller Union shields.

And how 'bout all that gold braid? Included with the braid are tassels, ornamental knots, and these things, the so-called "waffles".


Joining us now is American icon, genocidal maniac, paragon of faulty judgment, and the original Arrow Shirt man, George Armstrong Custer. Here he is, modeling the "waffles" and braid from an earlier version of the 1881 helmet and uniform.

You go George!
(indian name: "crazy mustache")

Provenance
1881 U.S. cavalry helmet, Horstmann mfg.
number MOAh1952.6
condition: outstanding, possibly unissued, original in all respects (save for the reproduction cord and "waffles"), with both plume and spike.
Purchased in 1987 ath the Plainfield Antique Mall in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Okay, that's a wrap for our pre-20th century foundation work. We've seen the fully functional Hoplite helmet and the completely ornamental U.S. 1881. From here on in it's all 20th century.

Next stop: The Pickelhaube of 1914

Hoplite Helmet: a clarification

I've gotten emails on my last post that lead me to believe I didn't make myself clear:




Bud lite (left), Hoplite (right)

Start at the beginning: the Hoplite helmet of 500 BC

I was getting ahead of myself. Before we really get into this discussion of 20th century helmets we've got to go back in time and pay our respects to the progenitor, the great grand pappy, of combat helmets. Back to what is now Greece in 500 BC.

These are the Hoplites, y'know, Spartans (Go State!). They were the big ass-kickers on the world stage at that faraway time. They had helmets of bronze that provided an extraordinary amount of protection. Heavily armed and highly mobile, the Hoplites gave military tactics the "phalanx"... a formation which exists to this day, primarily utilized by tanks.

An onrushing phalanx of helmeted Hoplites was something to strike terror into the heart.

"Don't ask, don't tell"
The American military could take a cue from these guys. Many Hoplite soldiers were homosexuals, openly so, celebratorally so. The theory seems to be that these men would fight even more ferociously at the side of their lovers, providing mutual protection for a loved one while totally eviscerating the enemy.

These helmeted, oiled-up, and mostly naked terrors, provide a whole new take on "homophobia". I'd be pretty scared.



In my collection I have a replica Hoplite Helmet. I use it for my traveling helmet show that I take to libraries, historical associations, schools, etc.





It's a really cheap helmet hammered out of old Buick bumpers (back when bumpers were still made of steel) and definitely not bronze. But its a logical place to start our exploration into the "tin lid".

The helmet was somewhat restricted in visibility but provided outstanding protection for the head neck and face. Plus it makes the wearer look like an anonymous, featureless, killing machine. Man, that's scary!

Aside from the restricted visibility another drawback is the suspension and lining of the helmet, of which there was none. The hoplite soldier relied on his full head of hair and beard for the needed cushion inside the helmet. I wonder if baldness provided one with a deferment?

Provenance: Helmet (replica) acquired on Ebay in 2004. Purchase price $35.00

So now we're off and running, zooming through time from 500 BC into the more recent past. Next stop will be our only other pre-20th century side trip. The time: 1881. The place: the lone prairie of the United States of America.

Here comes the cavalry!

Mannie

Peruvian model 1934 Steel Helmet

Front view

side view. This helmet has the original chinstrap and...
French-style six pad liner.

Unlike the steel shell of the helmet, the comb is made of aluminum. I sometimes read that the comb of a helmet was to deflect sabre blows. Really? sabre blows? In the age of machine guns and high-explosive shells? I never really bought this idea of 20th century soldiers being under much a threat from cavalrymen weilding swords. Lets take a closer look at that comb thingy...

Look, you can see light through it, air can flow through it. Lets look inside the bowl of the helmet and see what this comb is covering.

Aha! ventilation holes! Almost all European manufactured helmets of the era had some sort of passive ventilation system, and this is basically a French helmet in Peruvian livery.

Imagine being out under the sun with a close-fitting steel dome on your cropped head. It could get pretty warm. Without ventilation your head could roast. The comb is simply a decorative and rain-proof "roof" over those vent holes. As we go along we'll see lots of other types of helmet ventilators. For the French, the comb was like a little cupola on the roof of a barn, providing a positive air flow while keeping the rain out, all while deflecting sabre blows from the ...farmer?

You also see manufacturer's marks stenciled inside the dome as well as the word "Sota" crudely scrawled in black paint . I'm wondering if this was the name of the wearer (who obviously didn't have access to a sharpie).


Also written in pencil.

Inside the liner the manufacturer's stamp is clearly visible,

as are other stamps which I assume indicate inspections as well as size.

Here then, is the most obscure helmet in my collection; the Peruvian (as in llamas) model 1934, Which is essentially a French Mod. 1926 with the Peruvian sunburst insignia. The sunburst is, coincidentally, the insignia of the bane of the current Peruvian government, the Marxist Leninist Sendero Luminoso ("the Shining Path)...the local Commies who promise to set the peasants free while cutting their fingers off (go figure).
Me, I prefer the Leninist MaCartneyist movement, but nonetheless, here is the helmet of the Peruvian army of the WWII era.

Peru, that bastion state which protects the free world from Ecuador.

Pictured here, is the Victory monument commerating the Peruvian triumph over Ecuador in 1941, the seven week war which established the border between those two world powers. Nice monument. The helmets are clearly visible, and apparently this piece was cast on a particularly chilly day as the nipples on the allegorical figure are in high relief.(that's chilly, not Chile).

Provenance:
This helmet was purchased at a Military relic show in Lansing Michigan in 1978. Purchase price was $15.00. It is original in all respects.


Starting Next week I'll begin a chronological posting of helmets beginning with the leather pickelhaube of WWI both infantry and artillery

Stay tuned.

Mannie