An old myth

9

911car

Well-known member
Not the first time I read or hear this: some Pickelhauben, because of their small size, were actually worn by children.
I was given, when I was about 12, a battered M15 that had shrunk, being displayed on a scarecrow in a garden for a long time. It was presented to me as having been worn during the war by an army child ("enfant de troupe", who did exist in the French army, from the age of 13, till the end of the XIXth century. I don't know about German Imperial armies).

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Wow Bruno...you must be almost as old as I am....a haube on a garden scarecrow?? :eek: I completely understand this but will the younguns?? Do they even know what a garden is anymore or a scarecrow?? Are not vegetables grown in the supermarket?? :o Regarding pickelhaube size...OR's and Officer 55 cm-57cm seems to be the average in my experience. I don't accept a comment made here recently that it's only the small ones that have survived. Yes, there has been shrinkage but both ranks have size markings for the most part and fall between the range which I have outlined. Officer helmets were private purchase so more of them have survived but they also are in the range stated above. The exceptions In my opinion are 58 cm and above on the high end and 54-53,52 on the lower end. I would also like to point out that post war fireman helmets, many of which are refurbished war surplus hauben have the same 55-57cm size range. Our more scientific members can speak up here but I believe we can all accept that humans from this era and before were smaller than we are both in stature and head size and the hauben just prove this.
 
Great comments, Brian. Very funny. Actually, when this ruined M15 was given to me it had already been found a very long time ago by my uncle. But the story about the helmet coming from a scarecrow is authentic! And I do remember Adrian helmets being used as flower pots on farms close to my home town.
I do concur with what you wrote on helmet sizes. The only exception in my possession is this gigantic grenadier helmet; a 1860 model.

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Bruno that is a wonderful Grenadier. Marvelous.

I don't know how many times people have looked at my Imperial Dunkelblau Uniforms and commented on how tiny they are. But I have to remind people that the typical age of a soldier in any army even today, was 18, and they were malnourished and hungry in the 1800s.  So yes they many adults were small. However I once had a tiny size 52 (?) Pickelhaube and my Uncle Gerard (Rest in peace) who was a giant of a man, a German descendant farmer, could pop that tiny helmet on his head like it was made for him. 

A quick internet search of 1918 or 1945 will bring up scores of photos of adolescents wearing over-sized uniforms and weapons that look far too large for them. I personally do not believe any of these issue pattern helmets were made for a child, but they were absolutely made for barely teenage  boys pressed into service at the end of both Wars. Old men send boys to fight their Wars for them.

Example of my favorite size Stahlhelme: An excellent untouched M16 G62 produced by Gebrüder Gnüchtel A.G., Lauter i./Sa. who only made size 62 shells. The original issued paint is almost completely intact. Original liner pads and chinstrap are stiff from age but completely intact. Exactly how you want to find an untouched all original M16. Or actually, how you want a US Marine (C. Roelens) to find one and kindly send it North. Its a great example of a very small M16.

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The myth about helmets being made for children was started by people who were more interested in propaganda and had no knowledge of human anatomy. The human skull reaches its adult size when the plates have knitted together, I do not know exactly at what age, but as a wearer of hats my entire life, I never had to change hat sizes from 12 years to present. I suspect by the age of two, the human head is as big as it is going to be.
 
Gustaf said:
The myth about helmets being made for children was started by people who were more interested in propaganda and had no knowledge of human anatomy. The human skull reaches its adult size when the plates have knitted together, I do not know exactly at what age, but as a wearer of hats my entire life, I never had to change hat sizes from 12 years to present. I suspect by the age of two, the human head is as big as it is going to be.
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Gus, the human cranium can grow till the age of 18, but the pace of growth is of course slower and slower as you approach this limit. Therefore, there may not be a big difference between early and late teenage years with respect to head size.
 
Tony without Kaiser said:
Bruno that is a wonderful Grenadier. Marvelous.
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Thank you Tony. It is a textbook example of a 1860-1867 reconditioned helmet: front/back reversed; the long suture that used to be hidden under the 1860 rear spine is now hidden by the eagle; holes to affix the 1860 plate, now on the back, patched; the four distant holes for attaching the former cruciform spike base also patched. True Pickelhaube archeology: all vestiges from the past identified.
 
911car said:
Gus, the human cranium can grow till the age of 18, but the pace of growth is of course slower and slower as you approach this limit. Therefore, there may not be a big difference between early and late teenage years with respect to head size.
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If you add in the factor of malnutrition, growth also is reduced yes? The vast majority of Europeans in that period were underfed and malnourished at a young age, when they needed it the most.
 
I have to say this soldier looks rather young (to me this looks like he is using issued gear and not just dressed up in someone else's clothes)...

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And then there are monsters...

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Tony without Kaiser said:
911car said:
Gus, the human cranium can grow till the age of 18, but the pace of growth is of course slower and slower as you approach this limit. Therefore, there may not be a big difference between early and late teenage years with respect to head size.
Click to expand...

If you add in the factor of malnutrition, growth also is reduced yes? The vast majority of Europeans in that period were underfed and malnourished at a young age, when they needed it the most.
Click to expand...

Malnutrition is an important factor, and it reduces the size but I do not think it delays the growth of the skull. That early malnutrition is something that they never recover from.
 
Interesting thread!
As I am travelling a lot through the still existing Kriegsstammrollen and Friedensstammrollen (1875-1914) of Baden and Württemberg, I can confirm that soldiers of the imperial army were smaller at this time (like the French, British and others). The average size of a 18-20 young guy was at this time 1,75m.
People who were 1,85m and more were tall guys. You can see a lot of guys who only were between 1,59m and 1,70m.
And as the big majority of recruts came from a poor rural or industrial background, malnutrition was the "normality" at this time.

And it is a fact too, that our EM leather helmets have shrunk. I took the time to look at my 30 spikes and to mesure their actual size, comparing it to the size stamped in the helmets. You can be sure that every helmet has lost 2 cms minimum. If it was a size 56, now the helmet mesures 54.

Philippe
:wink:
 
Excellent statistical information Philippe, thank you. Other factors at play in our modern populations which have made us larger.....preservatives and growth hormones in the food we consume. There have been numerous scientific articles written listing the weird un natural chemicals that are now found in our bodies. Regarding haube shrinkage, this is also confirmed by the large numbers of hauben with broken visor trim, bent spines and popped soldered split prongs. Further evidence can be seen in finish cracks/crazing and missing patches of shellac.
 
Actually in the military there is only two sizes, too big or too small. Some where I had a report that showed the ratio of sizes for US uniforms during the Civil War. I know many of the German military records are missing, but are there contract records that may give some indication?
 
With a head size around 63 cm, even finding a motorbike helmet that fits has often been a challenge for me... let alone a Pickelhaube!
I guess I would have been invalided right away out of the Imperial army.

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