The Ad that got me into Pickelhaube;

poniatowski

poniatowski

Well-known member
Although my encounters with 'spiked helmets' were few and far between as a youngster, there was an advertisement shown in Volume 13 of the American Heritage Illustrated History of the United States, which my dad bought. Aside from a great cover photo of Douglas Campbell in a N-28 preparing to be less than chivalrous to a crew of a German Rumpler scout, there were so many great photos of paintings and such that I read it again and again.
One ad, the artwork of which is obviously JC Leyendecker's, made me want to be able to 'examine' my own Pickelhaube, just as the very cool man in the illustration was.

First, thanks to Photoshop, I can show you (roughly and quickly) how I remember the ad:



Now, this is what it actually looked like:



Either way, although I'd already liked the look of spiked helmets, Spad fighters, tanks, helmets, women, etc. this is the ad that really got me thinking about someday having 'just one'.
I also wonder if this 'image reversal' in my memory is also part of my dyslexia? It happens with printed images, but not with actual objects. For example, I don't remember the M3A3 Stuart I played in as a boy 'in reverse'. Quite the opposite.

:D Ron
 
Great !
Many thanks for the post
After one pass thru Col. Rankin's book
and I saw those photos of spiked helmets
I was hooked .
Steve
 
here's another of his works that I hadn't seen before.

JCLintd-L.jpg


:D Ron
 
It almost wants to make you to start collect ,
don't it ?
Do you remember the first time that you saw
a spiked helmet in person ?
I do .
I grew up and lived in rural North Shelby Co.
of West Tennessee
these spiked helmets were never seen.
I had a hard time finding a German Army WW II steel
combat helmet . circa the 1950's
Steve
 
Looking at the book's copyright, I see that the top ad is from when I was six years old, so it got into my blood early and maybe this was the first time I'd seen one depicted.

Yes I do remember the first I'd seen close up. I was in 3rd grade and my grandfather liked to go to steam shows (steam traction engines farm tractors etc). At one, there was a flea market and I saw a 6th Kuerassier helmet for sale. Love at first sight. Then, in 6th grade, there was a pre-war Prussian infantry helmet missing its strap and cockades at a junk shop called the 'White Elephant'. There was a two foot long white elephant statue at the back of the shop and it was wearing the helmet. You could see it from the street and finally I asked my dad if we could look.
I wanted both helmets, but the 6th K at $50 and infantry at $20 were still too rich for my blood. I also remember seeing a metal helm in Milwaukee (at what is now the Grand Avenue Mall, which at the time was an arcade), as a boy, but I don't know if that was real or just imagined. I do remember being surprised to see the infantry helmet was leather, which I thought wasn't right. Probably why I didn't bug my dad to death asking him to advance a year or two's allowance for it.
I started collecting helmets when I was about six or seven with an M5 flak helmet and steel pot (at 25 cents each, they were a real investment for me). In 6th grade, for Christmas, my dad gave me a German border guard helmet, which was similar in form to the WWII model. I loved it! (still have it), although I repainted it as a kid into a nice forest green, it's still in near mint condition. I found my first spiked helmet when I was about 19 or 20. I still wish I could have gotten the two from when I was younger, but I'd probably have played with and ruined them, or at least come close.

:D Ron
 
I know that the man in the first ad was Leyendecker's boyfriend, Charles Beach (The Arrow Collar man), and maybe in the 2nd as well, although I'm not sure. Looks like he enjoyed Pickelhaube as well. (oh to have collected in the 1920's!)

:D Ron
 
I just came across this post and find that it is indeed a small world. I saw the exact same ad in the exact same book as Ron, American Heritage Illustrated History of the United States, and I too was hooked. I was in grade school and all I wanted was a Pickelhaube. In those days a Haube would cost maybe $20.00, but I was cutting grass in the neighborhood for $1.50 a pop and my Dad insisted that I put the money in savings for College (doesn't mean much when you're 10 or 11). My Dad found a Pickelhaube and gave it to me as a present in 1965. It was my first and that started the addiction, which has continued. It was a Prussian M95 and it is still in my collection and it is one of my most prized pieces. It cost my Dad six bucks!
John
 
So, John, Did you get a lot of advice on how to take care of the Pickelhaube? I'm sure the first thing my grandfather would have told me was to put my name in it.

:D Ron
 
poniatowski said:
So, John, Did you get a lot of advice on how to take care of the Pickelhaube? I'm sure the first thing my grandfather would have told me was to put my name in it.

:D Ron
Click to expand...

I don't remember getting any advice on how to take care of this Pickelhaube. I do know that my Grandfather cleaned it up, polished it, and put some kind of leather preservative on it. I don't know what he used but whatever it was it worked. This helmet was in storage for years and it looked the same when I took it out as it did the day my Dad gave it to me. The only thing that was disheartening, not at the time, but now, is that the cockades were repainted. They probably didn't come up to my Grandfathers standards.



John :|
 
Still, a very cool story John and a great collector keepsake. My first was a beater Prussian M15 which I sold once I realized the poor condition.
 
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