Inspection instructions of the clothing office for pickelhauben and shakos from 1897

Sandmann

Sandmann

Well-known member
Dear friends,
today I’d like to share my new Blog entry on my homepage Historien-Kabinett.net.
I hope it will be interesting for some people, because it is a translation of the Royal Prussian Clothing Department's inspection instructions for pickelhauben, shakos and helmet covers. For me it was very interesting, that’s why I translated it and put it in my website. So hopefully you like it too. As always, the entry is also available to download in PDF format. However, although these are dry instructions, I hope you enjoy reading them :)

Inspection instructions of the clothing office for pickelhauben and shakos from 1897​

 
Thank you very much, I really appreciate your opinions and I‘m glad you like it 🙏 :) 🙏
It was indeed a lucky find, as I had been looking for more detailed information about how the clothing department works for a longer time. So I was very happy to find it, but I wish there had been some more information about marking and the stamp regulations 🫥
 
Dear fellow collectors,
now that I have found these regulations from the clothing department, I would like to know what you, as experienced collectors, think of the following thought.
In the inspection regulations for helmet emblems, only the visual comparison with a sample, the weight and the accurate position on the helmet are listed. However, since the clothing regulations specify exact measurements, I always assumed that they were followed in the same way. That's why I kept questioning many of my measurement results, even though there's not much you can do wrong.
I first noticed large deviations when examining Bavarian helmet emblems. But, unfortunately, Prussian ones weren’t better. When examining various line eagles, the specified width of 14.0 cm was mostly correct only with included the sceptre. But the clothing regulations specifically state "without sceptre". It got even worse with the guard eagle. I have only found very few M1895 guard eagles or grenadier eagles that had approximately the correct dimensions. The measurements of the eagles examined were mostly a mixture of the specified dimensions before and after 1899, when the guard eagle was enlarged, or didn’t match at all.
In the inspection regulations of the clothing department, a reference is made to the different head sizes and that there were 3 visor sizes, for example. Since the one size helmet emblems on the helmets would always look different anyway because of the different head sizes, a proper appearance was more important than dimensional accuracy. That‘s why I now think that only a quick visual check was made to see whether eye-catching details were designed similar to the sample of the clothing commission, and whether the central position on the helmet shell was correct. So in this respect at least, accuracy to size really seemed irrelevant. What do you think of this consideration?
2C2A3509-501A-4AD5-BA3E-1B1E53CAF902.jpeg
 
Hi Sandy,
I would expect a certain allowable size margin, the same way that margins in weight are indicated.
Can you share where you found the size specifications for the Wappen?
Interestingly enough, the Bekleidungsordnung 1903 describes the whole helmet including sizes, but not the size of the Wappen?
Regards,
Lars
 
WOW Sandy, wonderful information about Pickelhaube specifications for materials. Like Toney said, a lot to read in the evening and a fantastic way for me to get back into the subject after a extended absence from this great forum!
Thank You
John
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top