Odd helmet, novelty item?

A

awohio

New member
Hi,

New to the board. Love the photos of your finds. I've got a few helmets, but no pickelhaube until now. Picked up an odd helmet pretty cheaply off Craigslist on speculation. I cannot find any photos anywhere of one like it. The metal is pretty thin, more like tin than a real steel helmet. It is pretty easily dented. The older guy I bought it from was cleaning out a barn full of stuff that his father had collected. He didn't know much about it other than that someone told him that it was Austrian.

Anyone have any idea what this thing is?

haub-front.jpg


haub-side.jpg


haub-inside.jpg
 
James,
Thanks for the response.

What is a Good Fellow's helmet? I see that there is a charity named Good Fellows, but didn't see any photos of them with interesting headwear.
 
Not sure of Good Fellows , but maybe an Odd fellows helmet.

Here is one almost like yours on ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/old-IOOF-Odd-Fellows-Guard-HELMET-metal-spiked-/262936224759?hash=item3d383863f7:g:JBAAAOSwEzxYR3Mq" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Agreed that it is either an Odd Fellows, but it could be Knights of Pythias. These were "secret societies" or fraternal groups that began in the 19th century. In the UK and the U.S. these groups had military style ceremonies and wore uniforms complete with helmets.

The Odd Fellows helmets are often white and look like pith/sun helmets and tend to feature a skull and cross bones. The Knights of Pythias also wore white helmets with a shield on the front. Both used metal helmets in some ceremonies too.

I chronicled the evolution of these and how many of the helmets were sold from the Bannerman catalogs for decade:
http://www.militarysunhelmets.com/2012/lodge-hats-army-surplus-and-the-bannerman-catalog" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Nice work... Yes, that Odd Fellows one on Ebay is very similar to mine.

Mild disappointment that it is not more interesting, but for $20, it looks nice on the shelf.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top