Joe's new helmet

J.LeBrasseur

J.LeBrasseur

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Joe and I just got our helmets delivered from the Julia Auction. This one is the one Joe picked out for various reasons.

Appears to be a cloth covered cork helmet. A lot of interesting features.

Will post some of the other helmets later.

James















 
A little background. This helmet has kicked around for a while. Originally it surfaced out of the woodwork from somewhere in the Balkans actually the old Yugoslavia. Sergio had it. Somebody bought it. Sent it to Kube who put it in his color picture section. Haskell bought it – he called me to ask about it. We bought it from Haskell's estate. I have never seen another one like this and I have seen no photographic evidence of it. The mark on the front lines up. I am not so sure that the spike is original to the piece. Scroll helmets did not have one. Never seen anything like this. Extremely lightweight – a leather reinforcing disk, two identical cockade's. any thoughts?
 
Certainly is an 'oddity' or 'rarity'. I can understand why it interested you.

There was a 'Lily' and 'Lundquist' who flew the X-1... does that help? :p :wink:

:D Ron
 
I've never seen this type of helmet before :study: Thanks for sharing!

Regards,

Edwin
 
One of the cockades looks like stamped or cast brass, is that the case? Maybe that one was replaced by a former owner to 'even things out'. ???

:D Ron
 
Aaron,
Care to share your ideas and thoughts? I am out of town at the society of military history convention.
 
Hard to provide a comment on this one :-k ...
This helmet really looks great, but I think the base is a well known type of cloth covered cork helmet (see pictures). Looking at the stitching of the cloth of Joe's helmet, it seems to be not factory applied. The leather spike retainer also is peculiar. All the cork helmets with cloth cover I have seen also do have the brass spike.
The brass kokarde also isn't in favor of the helmet... The chinstrap shouldn't have this type of ajustment buckle...
Those are just observations and seen as a comparison of the helmet in my pictures. Maybe it's a period altered specimen or maybe it's a parts helmet. It's a tough call I don't want to make without a hands on #-o ...

Adler 1





 
Arran said:
I'm not at all convinced of the originality of this helmet...
Click to expand...

I'd imagine a lot of the Pick's crowd may be scratching their heads on this point. The people who've 'handed it down' are certainly no slouches on originality of helmets, but yours is a valid point. I was looking at photos of pith helmets and wondering if this could have been converted from one, but the shape of the dome seems wrong on those. (?)

My question is for Joe, are you going to removed the plate and spike to see what's under them? I wonder if that would answer some questions and provide some insights.

Like I said, an oddity and very interesting. :)

:D Ron
 
The sewing is all over the place, and was done by a very inexperienced hand; the application of the edge seam is really atrocious.
Also, the fact that the seam at the front is off-centre is really not in line with German design or quality. The sweatband appears to be from a visor cap, as it runs straight rather than curved, as demonstrated by all the folds, particularly at the front. The ageing also doesn't ring true for me. I think the body is fake with some original parts...
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Casque-pointe-prussien-en-liege-/271449732007?pt=FR_JG_Collections_Militaria_Uniformes&hash=item3f33aa33a7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Thanks again holding this for me I finally have the time to look at it.

Looking at the stitching of the cloth of Joe's helmet, it seems to be not factory applied. The leather spike retainer also is peculiar.
Click to expand...

I wanted this one because of its peculiarity. Karel and Arran Have really pointed to the sewing. It is not factory applied. In my opinion this helmet is original but really smacks of almost a homemade item. It appears to be cork covered by an irregularly applied cloth cover. Both it and the liner seem to be made of entirely ersatz material. It is really light but quite firm. The chinstrap is not unlike other scroll helmet types that I have seen. Very simple. Split brads bent over to apply on the inside. I cannot tell if they ever been removed but clearly the left-hand cockade seems wrong if not an outright replacement. I do not like the cockade and I think it is some sort of modern addition. The paint job is really sloppy and not at all like the right-hand one. It is also the wrong cockade. It is not clear if the spike is original to the piece. I don't think so as the patina seems a little bit different and most of the scroll helmets existed without spikes.

While at first I thought this was white in the pictures it is not. It is more of a khaki colored items similar to the color of Karel's helmet in color. Karel's Is much darker.

The unit designation creates an entirely new set of problems. My first thought was that this was all okay. But now I am not so sure. L= Landwehr. X1=Küstenschutz-Bataillon Aurich, später 1. Ldst.-I.-Btl. Aurich (X. 1)

So we have a Landsturm unit with a Landwehr marking. They were often mixed but I see no indication in this case. Where exactly did these guys serve I don't know.They were mobilized in 1914 and you can see the scant information on them in the site http://www.forum14-18.de/themen/ostfriesischer-landsturm/landsturm-des-x-armeekorps/#3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

so I have more work to do but I intend to track them down. This is not easy.
 
Investigation...amicable discussion...scholarly exchange of ideas...
you've just gotta LOVE this site and hobby! :thumb up:
 
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