ww1czechlegion
Well-known member
Hello,
I had a nice surprise yesterday. I traveled with a longtime friend to purchase a collection from someone who had recently passed away. The man who contacted me did not know that his late friend had collected military items. Another friend of his had recently given my contact information to the man who called me a couple of days earlier. After my friend and I had sorted out items we wanted to buy, there was a knock on the door. I was guessing that it might be another person who was arriving to look at the collection. It turned out to be a couple that I had met a year-and-a-half earlier, who have a Prussian Grenadier Regiment #4 Officer Helmet. They asked me if I might still be interested in the helmet, and of course I said "yes". Better yet, that had brought the helmet along with them, in order to let me see it in person. They had previously sent me photos via e-mail, after meeting them at a flea market where I had set up in order to fish for leads on pickelhaubes. I thought this was quite amazing how things finally worked out with this helmet, after first learning about it in October of 2023. Since that time period and our continued communication soon after meeting them, their computer crashed, and they lost all of the previous communication we had shared. They had recently come across my contact information which they thankfully still had. I only had their email address, and they said that if I would have tried recently to contact them via email, that they would have not been able to see any message on their old computer.
There is a penciled name inside of the helmet, which I can see clearly in proper lighting. However, I have thus far been unable to capture the name with my camera and trying different combination of camera angle, lighting, and use of camera flash. I am unable to read the cursive script hand-written German name, even though it is very neatly written. I will try to figure out some way to capture the full name and post it here to see if anyone can read it.
The wife of the couple pair had a grandfather or great-grandfather who brought this helmet back to the U.S., as a souvenir, either the 1st World War, or the 2nd World War.
Helmet is dusty, and the fittings are dirty. It sat on a dresser in their bedroom for many years. Thankfully the wife had kept it on a wire hat stand, which helped it to maintain its shape fairly well, and protected the stitching on the visors from breaking. The brass fittings seem to have all, or most of the mercury fire gilding still intact.
The leather helmet shell is pushed in a bit on the top, at the back of the spike base. And the back spine has been bent in this area. I am wondering how the chin scales could possibly be straightened, as some of them are bent outward.
Best Wishes,
Alan
I had a nice surprise yesterday. I traveled with a longtime friend to purchase a collection from someone who had recently passed away. The man who contacted me did not know that his late friend had collected military items. Another friend of his had recently given my contact information to the man who called me a couple of days earlier. After my friend and I had sorted out items we wanted to buy, there was a knock on the door. I was guessing that it might be another person who was arriving to look at the collection. It turned out to be a couple that I had met a year-and-a-half earlier, who have a Prussian Grenadier Regiment #4 Officer Helmet. They asked me if I might still be interested in the helmet, and of course I said "yes". Better yet, that had brought the helmet along with them, in order to let me see it in person. They had previously sent me photos via e-mail, after meeting them at a flea market where I had set up in order to fish for leads on pickelhaubes. I thought this was quite amazing how things finally worked out with this helmet, after first learning about it in October of 2023. Since that time period and our continued communication soon after meeting them, their computer crashed, and they lost all of the previous communication we had shared. They had recently come across my contact information which they thankfully still had. I only had their email address, and they said that if I would have tried recently to contact them via email, that they would have not been able to see any message on their old computer.
There is a penciled name inside of the helmet, which I can see clearly in proper lighting. However, I have thus far been unable to capture the name with my camera and trying different combination of camera angle, lighting, and use of camera flash. I am unable to read the cursive script hand-written German name, even though it is very neatly written. I will try to figure out some way to capture the full name and post it here to see if anyone can read it.
The wife of the couple pair had a grandfather or great-grandfather who brought this helmet back to the U.S., as a souvenir, either the 1st World War, or the 2nd World War.
Helmet is dusty, and the fittings are dirty. It sat on a dresser in their bedroom for many years. Thankfully the wife had kept it on a wire hat stand, which helped it to maintain its shape fairly well, and protected the stitching on the visors from breaking. The brass fittings seem to have all, or most of the mercury fire gilding still intact.
The leather helmet shell is pushed in a bit on the top, at the back of the spike base. And the back spine has been bent in this area. I am wondering how the chin scales could possibly be straightened, as some of them are bent outward.
Best Wishes,
Alan
