Why do you collect helmets?

[1966ww2collector]

Although I am not new to military history, I am new to helmet collecting. I have read lots of posts in this forum and the passion is obvious. There is a lot written about what is being collected. There is a lot of discussion about what something is or isn't. What I am curious to know is "why" each collector chooses to collect helmets. Is it the connection to a time or person? Is it the artistic element? Is it the chase? Is it the potential profit? Is it meeting people? What drives you? I'll start with what it means to me. I mentioned some of this in another topic, so I will be repeating a little of what I have already said.

 

Since I was a kid I've been reading war history books. And 9 out of 10 times the books have been WW2 related. Most that I read are personal stories although I do read some general war history books. I have a pretty extensive collection of WW2 books. It fascinates me that this special generation did what they did. I try to imagine what it must have been like to be in the situations that our soldiers found themselves in but can't come close to understanding. When I considered collecting a piece of this history, the helmet seemed like the obvious choice. The soldiers head is where everything begins. A soldiers thoughts, fears, decisions, memories, all of his or her emotions are there in his head. The helmet was meant to protect that most important part of the soldier. So to me it is the piece of equipment that most represents who that person was and what they were going through.

 

I know that some collectors have risen to the highest levels of collecting. What is on the helmet and who specifically wore it is the top priority. I really like that aspect to. But I have to tell you that when I bought my first nondescript WW2 era helmet and held it in my hands, knowing it was mine, it was pretty special. It was that connection that I hadn't experienced yet. I have to admit that it has gotten a little out of hand. I think this might be my "midlife crisis". As I was looking at helmets on ebay last night, my wife asked me if I dream about helmets. She was serious. I think I might need some help.

 

So, I hope that others will share their "why". Thanks.

[Nkomo]

For myself, I started off as a uniform and gear collector. I only collected helmets as a side hobby. As time progressed and I started to do displays on mannequins, I realized that helmets were an integral part of the story and the mannequins were incomplete without the correct helmet to go with them.

 

Today, I am a full fledged helmet collector and buy fifteen to twenty modern helmets a year. I still collect uniforms and gear, but I have found that the correct helmet on a historically accurate display goes a long way in helping to see the whole picture.

[gitana]

I personally enjoy watching my money fly out the window and having my wife disparage my interests.

 

As a kid I was always enamored with the Normandy invasion, and then as an adult my brother sent me a helmet he picked up. I was entranced. It was a tangible link to WWII that I could hold in my hands. Not to mention a helmet is so striking, visually. Eventually I started to learn about them and went through the "buy everything" stage to the inevitable "buy quality". I've now adopted a more passive collecting strategy as I don't have the time or money to swim with the big fish, but I'm happy with what I have and the collection slowly gets better.

 

Who knows, if my brother had sent me a knife maybe I'd be collecting knives.

 

And yes, I used to dream about finding helmets under floorboards.

[dskjl]

Why, a question I ask myself all the time. Frankly my kids and my Wife want to know as well.

 

I started collecting them because they were readily available and I thought they were an iconic representation of the U.S. military that most people would recognize. After just buying all things green and musty and then progressing to a filtered green and musty interests, I finally settled on Helmets as a core collectible, not my sole interest but my core. (I still cannot pass up deal or something rare or unusual).

 

Helmets like so many other military collectibles can tell a story, they are sometimes personalized by soldiers, sailors, and marines and can be found with one of kind or rare markings. Helmets are tactile, you can handle them, in some cases smell the and get a feel for what they are and maybe even where they might have been.

 

There is an abundance of great reference material on helmets making it easier than some collectibles to identify era, manufacture, markings etc.... The availability of research material aids in the learning curve. The reference material may tempt you with holy grail helmets in full page glossy pictures driving you to madness and bankruptcy in search of them, but they may also aid in saving you from falling for some of the recent artists impressions we seem to be seeing more and more of these day.

 

I'm sure there are lots of reasons for lots of folks but I have to admit, I don't have one specific reason for collecting helmets. I can go on forever about why I like Porsches, my wife, my kids and a plethora of other things but Helmet collecting may be a sickness, an addiction, an indescribable desire/need to acquire them; just thinking about it makes me want to hit garage sales this weekend.

 

Maybe in time there will be a group meeting of anonymous helmet collectors sharing their stories of helmet addiction, I hope not though, those kinds of groups are for quitters and I'm no quitter.

[ken88]

Helmets have always intrigued me. Ever since I was a little kid I use to be fascinated by the World War II United States marine or soldier and the helmet he was issued.

 

There's just something about the shape of the WWII M-1 helmet that is very appealing to me. It is perhaps one of the most iconic items of the conflict.

[1966ww2collector]

Why, a question I ask myself all the time. Frankly my kids and my Wife want to know as well.

 

I started collecting them because they were readily available and I thought they were an iconic representation of the U.S. military that most people would recognize. After just buying all things green and musty and then progressing to a filtered green and musty interests, I finally settled on Helmets as a core collectible, not my sole interest but my core. (I still cannot pass up deal or something rare or unusual).

 

Helmets like so many other military collectibles can tell a story, they are sometimes personalized by soldiers, sailors, and marines and can be found with one of kind or rare markings. Helmets are tactile, you can handle them, in some cases smell the and get a feel for what they are and maybe even where they might have been.

 

There is an abundance of great reference material on helmets making it easier than some collectibles to identify era, manufacture, markings etc.... The availability of research material aids in the learning curve. The reference material may tempt you with holy grail helmets in full page glossy pictures driving you to madness and bankruptcy in search of them, but they may also aid in saving you from falling for some of the recent artists impressions we seem to be seeing more and more of these day.

 

I'm sure there are lots of reasons for lots of folks but I have to admit, I don't have one specific reason for collecting helmets. I can go on forever about why I like Porsches, my wife, my kids and a plethora of other things but Helmet collecting may be a sickness, an addiction, an indescribable desire/need to acquire them; just thinking about it makes me want to hit garage sales this weekend.

 

Maybe in time there will be a group meeting of anonymous helmet collectors sharing their stories of helmet addiction, I hope not though, those kinds of groups are for quitters and I'm no quitter.

So you do dream about them. You spend way too much time on this forum and eBay. You can't pass by an antique store or garage sale without stopping. You believe that every day that passes is a day that another group of nice helmets has been snatched up by someone else and the availability of these rare objects is dwindling to none. You decide on your max bid on eBay only to bump it up by $50 at the last minute, then win and wonder why you did that. Yes, I also suffer this addiction. I am thankful it isn't something more expensive. I don't think a 12 step will help me or you.

[Screamingeagles101]

Like others said, it is an iconic part of the war. I think watching ww2 movies also got me into it. But c'mon, who doesent want a war helmet sitting on a shelf in their room. It's bad rump and is something that was used in the deadliest war ever fought.

[patches]

I personally enjoy watching my money fly out the window and having my wife disparage my interests.

 

As a kid I was always enamored with the Normandy invasion, and then as an adult my brother sent me a helmet he picked up. I was entranced. It was a tangible link to WWII that I could hold in my hands. Not to mention a helmet is so striking, visually. Eventually I started to learn about them and went through the "buy everything" stage to the inevitable "buy quality". I've now adopted a more passive collecting strategy as I don't have the time or money to swim with the big fish, but I'm happy with what I have and the collection slowly gets better.

 

Who knows, if my brother had sent me a knife maybe I'd be collecting knives.

 

And yes, I used to dream about finding helmets under floorboards.

"I personally enjoy watching my money fly out the window and having my wife disparage my interests"

 

Great Line Gitana

[ccmax]

Helmets are just plain cool. Any WWII militaria has a lot of historical meaning, but helmets rank high because they look and display nice.

[m1ashooter]

I think because when I look at my helmets I think about the person wearing it. I don't get the same feeling about web gear or bayonets which I also collect.

[bellasilva]

I think because when I look at my helmets I think about the person wearing it. I don't get the same feeling about web gear or bayonets which I also collect.

Same here. Granted every single helmet out there was certainly not used in combat or even necessarily overseas but it evokes images of the young, dirty, tired grunt sweating in it, resting on it, washing up with it, holding it tight while looking for cover from shell blasts. It's a very personal piece of equipment in my humble opinion. Hell I even love the smell of the steel, the webbing, the sweatband.

[DaddyDog]

To me, the helmet is the epitome of military service. It not only represents the individual but often the branch and time period, and sometimes the very action; be it combat to parades, that involves the lives of those who wore them. My wife doesn't understand this addition of mine; I am not sure I do either.

 

I am often seen browsing auction sites in search of my next score. Many times my wife will accuse me of "looking at helmet porn". I personally prefer any helmet that is researched or named to an individual and shows genuine age and abuse. And yes...I do find myself dreaming and daydreaming of helmets...the addition is STRONG...is there no hope for a cure?

 

 

 

[Hürtgenwald]

Helmets are still relatively a cheap collectable that stands alone and can be displayed proudly. I have always had an interest in them since I first bought one when I was 9 years old in 1975. It was the one thing I could afford on my lawn mowing money because they were about $1.50 each. All you needed to play army back in those days was a good helmet, so that's where it started.

 

I've been through many collector phases and I always come back to collecting helmets when money is tight. Just wait until the "Colt pistol bug" or "Luger bug" bites you. 300 to 1000 dollars for a nice example of a WW2 helmet is very affordable. If you can get that $1000 helmet for $50 then that's exciting and that is why I still look for them.

[Bugme]

Pretty much for all the reasons listed above.

[sgtdorango]

Pretty much for all the reasons list above.

me too!...............mike

[ka bar]

Helmets are still relatively a cheap collectable that stands alone and can be displayed proudly. I have always had an interest in them since I first bought one when I was 9 years old in 1975. It was the one thing I could afford on my lawn mowing money because they were about $1.50 each. All you needed to play army back in those days was a good helmet, so that's where it started.

 

I've been through many collector phases and I always come back to collecting helmets when money is tight. Just wait until the "Colt pistol bug" or "Luger bug" bites you. 300 to 1000 dollars for a nice example of a WW2 helmet is very affordable. If you can get that $1000 helmet for $50 then that's exciting and that is why I still look for them.

 

Ok then...

 

If anyone has a $1000 helmet and wants to sell it to me for $50 (plus free P&H to Australia)..PM me as I am your man!

[Wharfmaster]

Tanks, Halftracks and P-51 Mustangs take up way too much room. Plus, you don't have to fuel a helmet.

 

 

W

[WW2JAKE]

for me it started when i was at a car show when i was about 4 we were walking around and this guy saw me looking so he picked up his helmet and put it in my hands and it was just an instant attraction. but over the years ive noticed i collect them because even some military collectors can look at some military jackets and not realize it was a military jacket. but ANYONE can look at a helmet and know exactly what it is. helmets have a connection to people that other things dont.

[Third Herd]

I was so young when my Dad started giving me helmets, I can't remember how old I was. I was seven when I bought my first one, one of those olive green construction helmets that looks like a WWI helmet. The WWI helmet I had and still have, didn't have a liner in it and was hard to play Army with. I wish that all the information on helmets now was available back then, the local surplus store had piles of M1 helmets in the basement several feet deep. The only helmet from years ago that I know what it cost was a mint M5 Flack helmet and it put me back all of $1.99. You could still see it stamped on the chin strap when I started keeping records, but it has faded with age. This winter I'm going to organize my US helmets, I have to add more shelves. When I got done with the foreign helmets I had over 200 different ones. It will be a major undertaking with helmets from a British MKI that I knew the man it was issued to all the way up to ACH's, tankers, pilots, military hardhats, and even a WWII Army fireman. It has been a good addiction and I returned the favor and got my Dad addicted to patches.

[38Driver]

I've been a Ww2 history junkie since the second grade, which means since the late 1960s. Outside of my Dads helmet from his time in the army in the 60s and a couple of surplus store buys for playing army, I never had much interest in collecting. I did track down a WW2 fighter pilot helmet as a teenager but that's another story.

 

I stepped into the helmet world due to a thread here on the forum. It was about the story connected to an eBay listed helmet. I decided to challenge the notion of not buying the story. That helmet lead me on a wonderful trail that included getting to know the vet who owned the helmet and expanding my learning both about that vets story and about helmets in general. In that case I was right to buy the story.

 

Once I bought the first, I found myself caught up in the chase and before long I had a dozen helmets. I started to sour on the "game" though as I'd lost the thirst for history and replaced it with just wanting more. Soon as I realized that I stopped looking to buy helmets.

 

My Dad's helmet and the Vet's helmet will always mean the most as they represent the men who wore them. I made a vow to myself that any helmet in the future has to have the history to go with it. Without the history it's just stuff to me and as I have too much stuff already, I might as well be picky going forward

 

The other great benefit from playing in the helmet world has been the knowledge gained from listening to the guys who know there stuff and have reached a point where there at a level of collecting and expertise that most of us can only dream of. Thankfully those folks have done thier best to share thier knowledge while putting up with our goofy questions day after day.

[BOLO]

helmets are easy to display, and dont require much except shelf space, so one reason is helmets look nice on display on a shelf

 

nothing fancy, just a few helmet stands or foam heads and some shelf space, they are nice to look at on display