Early Pickelhuabe Plume Attachment

Nacuaa

Nacuaa

Active member
Does anyone have any information on how plumes were attached to the 1842 model enlisted men's helmets?

I ask because in his description of his 1842 model Tony says that removable spike tops were not introduced until 1857.

Does this mean that the guard regiments replaced the entire spike and cruciform base for parade?

If a seperate piece, did the plume holder rotate on the cruciform base in the same way the spike did, or was it permanently fixed with open holes?

Thank you!
 
I do not believe that any sort of trichter and parade plume were worn 1842- 1857. If you look at the M42 the helmet it is very tall and egg shaped. It looks like an egg cut in half with big visors stitched on. I think that if you take this into account plus the height of the helmet any sort of parade plume would have looked ridiculous and been nearly impossible to wear. Period accounts speak of how cumbersome and heavy this helmet was, it had to be worn tilted back on the head to balance it and allow the wearer to see. The key change that allows a plume is the continuous reduction in the height of the pickelhaube.
 
I could imagine that the Spike could be unscrewed by one Bolt from inside the Helmet.The Picture from Herman-Historica shows an Helmet from 1848.
View attachment 1
The other picture shows early Pickelhaubes with Plume or Spike.
 
So this Hermann photo shows a removable spike for an 1848 model pickelhaube and we might presume that the spike could be unscrewed and replaced by a plume... Is that correct?

The Knotel prints are what prompted my inquiry. Knotel illustrated an 1843 Prussian dragoon, a grenadier, and a musician all wearing plumes.

Thank you!
 
I think so. Paul Pietsch wrote in his Book „Die Formations- und Uniformierungsgeschichte des preußischen Heeres 1808 bis 1914“ that with A.K.O. from April 5th 1843 a Plume has to be worn for Parades (For all Regiments who wore before a Tschako with Plume „Paradestutz“). Further he wrote that the Spike was removeable by a Bolt, so I guess it is the same attachment principle like shown on the Picture of Hermann-Historica.
 
I ask because in his description of his 1842 model Tony says that removable spike tops were not introduced until 1857.
Click to expand...

On Tony’s Website stands: „The spike top is not removable, as removable spike tops were not introduced for specific Regiments until 1857.“
As I wrote, the Plume was only for Regiments who have worn a Tschako with Plume before the Pickelhaube. So Tony was not wrong...
 
Very nice. Beautiful helmet.
It appears that the spike is adaptable to a plume on this one. Does the tip of the spike unscrew?

John :)
 
Indeed a nice helmet. For me it looks like a Plume, just without the hair.
Paul Pitsch showes a similar picture on page 57 („Die Formations- und Uniformierungsgeschichte des preußischen Heeres 1808 bis 1914“)

 
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