Helmets walk-in at Minnesota Military Show in St Paul

ww1czechlegion

Well-known member
This certainly made up for missing the MAX Show. I've always loved this show, and Bob Johnson does a great job advertising. On Sunday afternoon after a very slow morning, a retired couple walked up to my table and told me they had spike helmets like the one on my table. I kind of have to think that I wish I had a dollar for every time someone says that to me at the various gun shows I set up to go "fishing" for pickelhaubes, so I took their statement with a grain of salt. They said they had photos for me to see them, if I liked. That was a surprise! After looking at the pics (which I've posted below), they told me they had the helmets out in their car. It certainly turned out to be a great day! The helmets were from the wife's grandparents, and the couple didn't know the history on how her grandparents had acquired them.

1.) Ulan e.m. 1915 dated & Alexandar Dahl, Barmen mfg'd.
2.) Bavarian Dragoon (w/smooth spike), probably unissued. Maker marked & dated.
3.) Kurrassier e.m., 1916 Lachmann mfg'd.
4.) Ersatz fiber body Prussian w/riveted visor attachment. Depahag Patent mfg mrkd
5.) Jaeger Shako, tiny size 52 marked. Maker marked & dated. Finish ran on back visor from storage in a too warm area.
6.) Wartime Bugle w/most of the green paint, nicely mfg marked on the bell area.
7.) A New Year's card from the WW1 period. Not sure what the story is on it.
There was also a very nice M17 Camo helmet + a mint British mfg'd WW1 helmet that were also acquired with the grouping. Needless to say, after the purchase was made, I almost had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't having a dream.

Sorry for the poor composition of the photos, as they're scans of printed pages the sellers brought in. Sometime in the future I'll have to photo them in person. At least they all had their kokardes, and chinstraps, though some of the chinstraps show signs of dry rot, unfortunately, and it looks like some of them had stuck to the finish on the helmets. Straps have all been correctly positioned on the helmets after purchasing them. Fortunately the liners are all very nice, and do not have dry rot.

There's still stuff out there, and this find certainly made up for all the "dry times" sitting at shows fishing to find helmets that people still have out there in the woodwork, and listening to lots of stories that haven't panned out over the years.

All the Best,

Alan

UlanImages1.jpg


UlanImages2.jpg


BavarianDragoonImages1.jpg


BavarianDragoonImages2.jpg


KurassierImages1.jpg


KurassierImages2.jpg


ErsatzImages1.jpg


ErsatzImages2.jpg


JaegerImages1.jpg


JaegerImages2.jpg


BugleImages1.jpg


CardImages1.jpg
 
\:D/ :bravo:
Love that Lachmann... It's the first on my list of Most Wanted...
 
Very nice find and thanks for sharing! This must have been your lucky day :D

Kind regards,

Edwin
 
Thanks everyone for your very nice comments!

Yes, it was a very lucky day for me indeed! I'm still a bit shocked by it all...

All the Best,

Alan
 
Once in a life time!!! Look like bond helmets to me the liners are so pristine. However, unusual to have straps and kokarden on bond helmets. Fantastic!!
 
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