Boy in helmet

[siege1863]

I am always looking for images to display with my WWII toy collection, particularly when they show examples of the items in question. Here is one that just arrived. It shows a young boy wearing a tin "doughboy" helmet and taking aim with his wooden gun.

 

 

[siege1863]

[ADMIN]

That is a great photo!

 

I always like seeing the items you have!

[ww2vault]

Very cool photo! Is the helmet by chance the same one the kid is wearing in the picture?

 

- Jeff

[siege1863]

Unfortunately, the helmet is not the same one seen in the photo. Upon looking at the photo more closely, I am not 100% certain that the helmet is actually a toy. Mine has a simple string for a "chin strap." The one in the photo has a wide strap, not unlike a real "doughboy" helmet. However, I do know some of the tin toy helmets also came with wide straps so this alone cannot rule it out as a real helmet.

 

I would guess, based on the fit, it could be a toy. The boy seems rather small and he is wearing "Dad's" oversized hunting boots and leather belt. If this were a full sized helmet I would think it would not look as proportioned. I also wonder about the availability of a real helmet. At the time the photo was taken (1930s?), this style was still in the inventory. Would a little boy have had one as a toy? Thoughts?

[ADMIN]

Vets took stuff like that home, so he could have had it as a toy. But, it seems just from the picture that, like you mentioned, it is not very heavy. A real helmet seems like it would have shown to be heavier on his head. Who knows. Hard to tell. Either way, it is a nice picture!

[siege1863]

Scanned at a higher resolution and enlarged some, this is what I get. Not of much help.

 

[CrewChief]

Scanned at a higher resolution and enlarged some, this is what I get. Not of much help.

 

 

Siege,

 

This picture of yours is a beautiful piece of Americana. Many of us old farts remember playing like this, in yards like this, at houses like this. Wouldn't we give to to be young like this little boy again.

 

You really come up with some great stuff! Thanks for the memories!

[Russell 1910]

Excellent shot. From a photography point of view this is a nice photo. The person with the camera took the time to get the camera angle low to offer a better perspective, rather than just someone standing straight up and shooting down at the subject. This in my opinion makes this a true quality photograph versus a simple snapshot (despite the content of the photo). I like the house in the background as well, especially the tree limb shadow.

 

Wooden toy gun or not, the kid looks like he knows how to fire from the prone position.

 

Some time ago I spotted a pair of boots sized for a toddler at an antique shop. They were a slightly simplified version of the buckle boot/cap toe/paratrooper boot in the "right" shade of brown, complete with the angled heels and all. To me they looked clearly to be WWII era. I did consider getting them (especially after seeing them on a few different trips to this shop), but they were slightly pricey for the condition. And for someone who has a hard enough time trying to focus his collecting efforts I didn't need to get going in yet another direction... Unfortunately they have since sold as they are nowhere to be found since my last couple visits.

 

Thanks for sharing.

[siege1863]

For those who have enjoyed the photo of the little boy, here is a full view. Unfortunately, the original was cropped to fit in an album.

 

I, too, have gotten great pleasure from the photo. The boy's neighborhood is not unlike the one I grew up in in rural Michigan. We had the older houses, large shade trees, and dusty dirt roads. In the fall, I can recall making leaf "forts." We would rake the leaves into huge piles and then shape them into walls with doorways. Somewhere I have a few snaps of me and my brother playing in the leaves.

 

When I look at the photo, I also wonder about such things as: Which window might have been the boy's room? What else does Mom have on the back porch? Did any of the boy's friends live in the house seen across the street? Who is driving the automobile blurring across in the background? I believe the photo could date back to the late 1920s or early 1930s. If it is from this time period, this boy soldier likely became a real soldier during the war. Did Mom hang a "Son in the Service" banner in the window of the home? Did he survive the war? Sadly, we will never know. The photo is not identified in any way.

 

 

[Ricardo]

I love it!!

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

Best regards,

 

Ricardo.

[Wailuna]

Scanned at a higher resolution and enlarged some, this is what I get. Not of much help.

 

This opinion probably requires evaluation by a M1903 expert, but it looks as though this young soldier has modeled his rifle's rear sight on the distinctive flip-up leaf sight used on service Springfields through model M1903A1. I call that good attention to detail.

[AndrewA74]

I also wonder about the availability of a real helmet. At the time the photo was taken (1930s?), this style was still in the inventory. Would a little boy have had one as a toy? Thoughts?

Hello,

Nice photo! I do think that even if the helmet was in inventory, he could have had it. If a veteran (Or even an active duty soldier) gave (Or lent) the helmet to him. Just a possibillity

Andrew