Mint, Unissued WWII US Pith Helmet from a carton found in an old Civil Defense Shelter

[rambob]

I got this beauty off of EPay a few years ago for amazingly, a very reasonable price. It is a WWII, Navy contract Pith Helmet that never got issued during WWII, but somehow got into the Civil Defense supply system. It has never even had the sweat band laced and still has the size adjusting directions tag still attached. The ink stamp inside reads INTERNATIONAL HAT CO. NXsx - 67491 June 29, 1944. The story is that when an old Civil Defense Shelter was decommissioned, among the other supplies found there, were a few complete, cardboard cartons full of these helmets. They sold the helmets one at a time and this was the last one. During an email with the seller, I asked what happened to the cardboard cartons and if they were available for sale. His answer was that the cartons had been thrown away!! If we had been talking over the phone he would have heard a grown man cry.

 

Bob

[rambob]

The inside look and the ink stamp and tag details.