Just Arrived --- Spineless Felt Ersatz

SkipperJohn

SkipperJohn

Well-known member
This is probably the most common of all felt Ersatz helmets. I had seen several in the past but they were either crushed, stained, missing parts or severely over-priced. As a result I did not have one in my collection --- until I found this jewel:

HDfDmZR.jpg


The felt is still hard and maintains it's shape well:

SwudSFC.jpg


The Wappen is a standard stamped brass Prussian. The jury is still out on the chinstrap, but the fittings are original :

UhFYUAd.jpg


The liner is in relatively good shape. Some of the cord holes have ripped out and it is pretty dry. The cord is not original (came with the helmet) and it appears to be very old dental floss. The stitching is tight and there are no signs of glue:

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The left side M91 lug is mounted slightly lower than the right side. I have found that this type of imperfection is common on felt Ersatz. All-in-all it exhibits a pleasing profile:

DjSGPvQ.jpg


There are two black rectangle shaped stamps in the dome of the helmet, probably for unit and date, but I cannot make them out. There is a size stamp, "58", stamped in the dome in red.

John :)
 
Every one has to have one in his collection so you got a good catch with this one

Congrats👌
 
An excellent example, as you say John, they are so often torn and have splits in the felt. For what it's worth, I believe the leather of the strap to be modern. It appears to be dyed on both sides and I see gaps in the leather where the M91 fittings are. Originals are only dyed on the hair side not the flesh side and because they were worn under the chin and stretched and sweated on, the leather fits tight to those end fittings which fit over the posts.
 
That's a great looking helmet John, congratulations!

It's hard to find these thinner felt examples in such nice condition, as they most often are found with splits or tears to the edges. It's great to see you found such a super nice and clean example!

Best Regards,

Alan
 
b.loree said:
An excellent example, as you say John, they are so often torn and have splits in the felt. For what it's worth, I believe the leather of the strap to be modern. It appears to be dyed on both sides and I see gaps in the leather where the M91 fittings are. Originals are only dyed on the hair side not the flesh side and because they were worn under the chin and stretched and sweated on, the leather fits tight to those end fittings which fit over the posts.
Click to expand...

The leather chinstrap is not dyed on both sides. The flesh side is not black but sort of a gray-green. The photos don't show the color well, but you can see this in the third photo of the original post (sort of). After some mild cleaning on an unseen area it appears that the chinstrap is just very, very dirty. It appears that the chinstrap has been oiled, possibly repeatedly, over time. It is stiff but not brittle. There are dimples in the leather at the bottom of the M91 post fittings as if they had sat in that position while drying. That may be why there appears to be a gap at the top. The dimples (creases) at the bottom edge of the strap make the strap fatter at that point so it is difficult to draw the chinstrap through the M91 fittings. There are faint stains on the felt body where the chinstrap sits, possibly oil or sweat, but they are not severe. The stains are dry, appear very old, and have collected some dirt over time. The stitching on the chinstrap looks authentic when compared to my other known good originals. If it is a reproduction chinstrap, it's a very good one.

John :)
 
Nice helmet John , congrats.

I think it’s safe to say that this chinstrap was not born with the helmet , I came to this opinion by comparing the wear on both liner and chinstrap. Wether it is an original , the jury is still out.
 
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