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Help with m1917 painted blue with gold "Capital" stenciled on front?


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88th Div 350th Inf
Posted

I recently picked up this helmet off eBay for the cheap price of $30. I am not too sure what the paint scheme means. I do know that police departments would buy surplus m1917 helmets and paint them blue. I have done some research and have only found one other helmet with the same paint and markings. The seller said that he found the helmet near his home town of Hyattsville, MD. I would assume that the helmet was used by the Capital Police but I have not found any evidence to suggest that. I would like to restore the helmet for WWI reenacting, but I'm waiting until I find out if it is worth anything as is right now. If anyone could offer some insight regarding the helmet, I would much appreciate it!
                 

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Posted

Do not refurbish it. We helmet nerds tend to forget that some of these things cross over into non-militaria collectors circles. In this case, law enforcement collectors. I located 150+ M1917's painted blue that were used during the Kohler riots back in the 30's. When I sold these, a good share ended up being sold to police collectors.

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88th Div 350th Inf
Posted

Ok. Do you have any idea on what it's worth?

 

Posted

Well, this was over a decade ago and I ran them on eBay as auctions but, they ran from about $100 to $250 based on some having specific markings, names and/or badges.

 

 

88th Div 350th Inf
Posted

Wow! Thanks for the information.

 

Posted

Al very interesting. Please let us know if you come up with an answer. 
mikie

Posted

My first instincts would be police related or perhaps there could have been a Legion post with that name.

 

Either way, it's old paint and attractive for what it is.

  • 2 weeks later...
88th Div 350th Inf
Posted

I have been able to find some information on where this helmet might have come from. It's possible this helmet might have been used by the Capital Police during the Bonus Army Riots in 1932. I unfortunately have no photographic evidence of this particular helmet being used, but I have found images of the 4th Infantry Division using m1917 helmets.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Image credit: gettyimages

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