Just a run of the mill helmet, but I finally have one

my8trax

my8trax

New member
Hi, I miss having one of these, so I kept track on Ebay, watching prices, conditions, etc. After missing several bids, and seeing ones I did not want, I got this one. It is just a run of the mill helmet. Looks to me like it has not been messed with much. Has dust under the front plate, no polishing done, original leather wedges, and only two holes. All the stitching is good. I can't see any markings, and the liner is pretty dried up. Should I just do a light cleaning or leave as is? I will try to link pics, but being new at this it might not work. Thanks for looking (if it works)
http://news.webshots.com/album/577077812ogorXt[/url]
 
Welcome Oliver,
The link did not work for me, there are two schools of thought on antiques, mine is never do anything you can not undo, cleaning is OK, but polishing is not, too many helmets have suffered greatly from being polished, some of the rarer officer's helmets have a gold wash on them, and there are many of these that have nad the gold polished off leaving bare brass, it might look shiney, but it is like removing the original paint from a rare automobile and polishing the bare metal.
The other school of thought is to return the helmets to what they would have looked like when they were new, this is resoration (removal of patina, repainting and polishing of the leather) The helmets look better, but the process can not be undone, and you will always have a restored helmet rather than an original one. (this is just my opinion, and probably wrong)
Stopping mold or corrosion is important, but remember, most of these items are 100 years old, and often with very little degredation in condition except from abusive storage.
Best wishes
Gus
 
Thanks Gus, I will try another link that I uploaded the pics to. If that does not work, I will try again. And yes, I plan on leaving this as is dust and all.
hope this works:
http://picasaweb.google.com/110865843059608170757/Pickelhaube#
 
Hey Oliver, That is a decent M1915 Haube, I like the m15s best, even though they are not the prettyest, you need Kockarden and a chin strap to finish it off (these are commonly missing, as the chin straps were used on the Stahlhelms and with out the chini strap, the Kockarden had nothing to hold them on.
By the way, you are dating yourself with the 8 track name...geezer:)
Best wihses
Gus ps I got rid of my 8 track and converted over to the new casset tape, I still have the first ones I bought in the early70s much better than the 8 track, I suggest you update too:)
 
That is a nice helmet, and I fully agree with Gus about not polishing up old pieces.

Normally the value of an antique item increases when its patina is intact. The patina is a result of the aging process as well as man-made effects and documents the objects history. Luckily, modern restoration tends to preserve the story it reflects rather than to bring back the original working condition.

Of course we all like shiny helmets too so there will always be a moral dilemma concerning how far to go. Personally I have not polished a helmet fitting yet.
 
I do have a pair of cockades for this. And will get a replica chin strap. I am a little concerned about having one to long, that will not look right on the helmet. I guess most of the replicas are made to a similar general length. And yes, at one time I did collect 8 track tapes and players. I thought they would be very collectible and had about 5000 tapes, 40 players, and other misc. related stuff. It took up so much room in the basement, we listed it locally and sold it all to a pawn shop for 500 bucks. It took him 3 loads in a range rover to haul it away. He sells on Ebay and was going to list the stuff some time. Needless to say I did NOT make money on the deal. Pickelhaubes are a much better investment !!
 
Nice looking helmet! If the chin strap is too long, you can always cut and re-sew it (if you're getting a replica). However, I've never run into that problem.

The thing I like about M15's is that they've a lot of personality. Some, the visors are on crooked, or the wappen is off a bit, it's all pretty cool and shows the war time expediency that even the quality conscious Germans had to endure.

:D Ron
 
Yes, thanks for the comments. I ordered a strap from Prairie Flower Leather Company. There are others on the market that might be very good, but I appreciated the fact that Steffan replied to my emails. He offered to ship one with one end unsewn and include some thread so that I could size it myself, but I just went with the complete strap. The replica cockades have been repainted and are outside getting a little age on them. The red seemed to deep, and both national and Prussian were brush painted. I stripped the paint and made templates for the circle size and sprayed them. Used more of a scarlet red.
 
PFLC is an outstand leather maker. I have done business with him and as always a Great Guy. I wish he make more in the Spike liners. If you send him anything in leather he will copy it!! Fair on price too.
:D :D
Jerry
 
PFLC is new to me and the site looks great. I added a book mark.

THANKS GUYS!

I also agree 100% with Gustaf and others regarding restorations and such. If you want it to look new, then get a repro... unless it's 'minty'!

:D Ron
 
I went thru this with British custodian (bobby) helmets. Had to have one of each of the 3 types, which I do now. They were a lot less expensive than the pickelhaube though. I am still paying on Visa for the 1915, so it will be a while before I could buy another, but I can't quit looking at them. I would be leery of ending up with a copy of a more expensive helmet, but I can sort of tell from the pics on Ebay if the 1915's are original. Are they maybe one of the more difficult types to copy? The grey, aged finish looks like it would be kind of hard to fake?
 
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