ccj
Well-known member
Recently acquired from Randy/AOK.
The helmet was originally found at an estate sale in North Carolina. It had been in a box in an attic. It was an all complete helmet but the long storage had caused the visor stitching to fail and the spike , strap and cockades we’re laying loose in the box. Also it was quite dirty. AOK obtained this from a fellow collector who had originally found it for sale. He carefully cleaned and restitched it, but did NOT over clean it, just carefully removed dirt and dust. It is now in great shape with nothing loose. The leather strap was dried out but the buckles remained. The strap has been replaced with new leather. The spike has has one small bump on the left side but it does not change how it fits to the leather. The top of the spike is blunted as you can see in the photo.
The helmet is an all original piece. The Hesse Cockade on this helmet is an original, with touched up paint. I replaced with an untouched cockade thought it may not be as clean. It’s very attractive and was listed with a less accurate, brief overview as compared to Randy’s detailed description on inquiry.
After WW2 the US Army used the 115th Kaserne in Darmstadt as their base. Many of the issues WWI helmets were still in storage there. Its assumed this is one of the many that were taken home as a souvenir.
Opinions are welcome from the experts. I’m not expert on Pickelhaube. It look nice and wish I could fix the damage to the cruciform base on top. The first photo is taken in my room. The others were supplied by Randy.
The helmet was originally found at an estate sale in North Carolina. It had been in a box in an attic. It was an all complete helmet but the long storage had caused the visor stitching to fail and the spike , strap and cockades we’re laying loose in the box. Also it was quite dirty. AOK obtained this from a fellow collector who had originally found it for sale. He carefully cleaned and restitched it, but did NOT over clean it, just carefully removed dirt and dust. It is now in great shape with nothing loose. The leather strap was dried out but the buckles remained. The strap has been replaced with new leather. The spike has has one small bump on the left side but it does not change how it fits to the leather. The top of the spike is blunted as you can see in the photo.
The helmet is an all original piece. The Hesse Cockade on this helmet is an original, with touched up paint. I replaced with an untouched cockade thought it may not be as clean. It’s very attractive and was listed with a less accurate, brief overview as compared to Randy’s detailed description on inquiry.
After WW2 the US Army used the 115th Kaserne in Darmstadt as their base. Many of the issues WWI helmets were still in storage there. Its assumed this is one of the many that were taken home as a souvenir.
Opinions are welcome from the experts. I’m not expert on Pickelhaube. It look nice and wish I could fix the damage to the cruciform base on top. The first photo is taken in my room. The others were supplied by Randy.
