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WWI PAINTED HELMETS


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The Rooster

This here is one of my favorite helmets.

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  • 1 month later...
devildog34
1 hour ago, French Sam said:

A new add to my collection ! 2nd Supply train...

IMG_5860.jpg.b285ff0a085a7fa0c21566769b2a21c4.jpg

 

Awesome lid

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devildog34

Here's one to Charles Heimerdinger, a USR officer with the 20th Co. 3rd Bn 5th Marines and later moved to 2nd Bn 23rd Infantry.  He was awarded a DSC for actions during the Meuse Argonne.

Heimerdinger helmet 1.jpg

Heimerdinger helmet 2.jpg

Heimerdinger helmet 3.jpg

Heimerdinger helmet 4.jpg

Heimerdinger helmet 5.jpg

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French Sam
1 minute ago, devildog34 said:

Here's one to Walter Gross.image.png.16f68f8083d308bd87e01257e3eb1d64.pngimage.png.16f68f8083d308bd87e01257e3eb1d64.png3581958_137187952115.jpg.f22e26c2e32983f00e54aeedc75381cc.jpg353077154_1279410116313102_8191557508450996875_n.jpg.1ff4981585ddb02284e1d6ccb0076977.jpgimg.jpg.38cbb8ee08fdad95abf0786a54de8d2f.jpgUSMC_WWI_HELMET_SGT_GROSS_2.jpg.860de39f676cf9c37ed8e3d681c3cbec.jpg

image.png.16f68f8083d308bd87e01257e3eb1d64.png

a beautiful historical piece Kevin ! Thanks for sharing !

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AEF 42nd Division Brodie.

3 overseas chevrons 

Five Campaigns but only four are legible

St. Mihiel

Champagne

Argonne Woods/Meuse-Argonne

Chateau

?

Unfortunately no liner

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Greetings,

 

Wanted to share a 2024 MAX Show find here quick! I was pretty adamant about finding a "wow" helmet at the show this year and I'm glad to have held out on buying something until the last day of the show where this lid showed up:

 

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Why printed depictions of ships and statues on a 28th Division helmet? The world may never know.

 

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The painted 28th Division insignia and a diamond depicting a statue on the front of the helmet.

 

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The ship on the top of the helmet.

 

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An old paint chip near the ship on the top that reveals a lair of paint underneath the overcoat.

 

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Side view of the helmet.

 

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Ship found on the right side of the helmet.

 

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Ship found on the left side of the helmet.

 

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Rear view of the helmet.

 

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Rear decal with a yellow/orange diamond painted above.

 

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Liner of the helmet.

 

According to other AEF collectors at the MAX this year, this particular helmet has been seen before but apparently not on USMilitariaforums. I am glad to be able to share it here!

 

Best Regards,

-J.D.

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I've seen this one somewhere before too.  The appliques look like they might have come from a cigar box or something similar.

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@aef1917 @French Sam,

 

Thanks! Appliqué is the word I should have used describing the glued-on decor. I’d be curious to find where the ships came from but I know that would be a stretch. 
 

Best Regards,

-J.D.

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The Rooster

To me, and I mean no offense, looks like someone in more recent times painted over a painted helmet.

And that the only original paint showing is the bloody bucket. and that chip where you can see under the overpaint.

Because the red has some ageing to it cracks in the paint.

But it looks like the original black border around the keystone has been enlarged with black marker? Looks like the Appliqué's

are fairly modern printing with the screen pattern i am seeing in the images.

And the thin black lines also look like they were applied with a black marker.

None of what Im pointing out is gospel, I dont know,

Its just what I think Im seeing.

And pale or white paint over the last 100+ years tends to be filled with tiny cracks. Same with yellow and reds. Blue does not seem to crack.

This paint all looks kind of newer to me. Fresh artificially stained.

My Disclaimer.

 I've been wrong before.

 

Below. Close up of.....

100+ year old white red yellow and blue paint on a helmet.

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@The Rooster,

 

I understand your point and thanks for the input! I’m perfectly fine with owning this helmet due to how unique in style the artwork is and the level of patina present. Makes for a good shelf topper!

 

For me, the age of the paint and patina when holding the helmet in-person is old enough even though it is technically post-war “folk art;” something painted with decor in mind and is not entirely related to the AEF in 1918/1919.  I know some AEF aficionados avoid paint jobs not done close to the WWI era but this helmet just clicked all the buttons for me. If the paint job was any newer I would have passed on it in a heartbeat.

 

Best Regards,

-J.D.

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@The Rooster,

 

For comparison, here is a 2nd Army helmet I got rid of that was too new for my taste. It was suspected as having been painted within the last 20 years by a particular man in the American Midwest who does this kind of clean artwork:

 

(Forgive the photo not being centered. I am on my phone.)

 

IMG_6541.jpeg.d72ffb7ef8d69c525029fc95deb8f58a.jpeg

 

Best Regards,

-J.D.

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The 28th helmet is really nice.  It is likely a veteran produced post war paint job;  but it is visually attractive and definitely vintage.

 

I would have bought it if I had seen it.

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Nothing about the 28th Division helmet looks recent to me. The decals could be lithographed. For comparison, take a look at the 1920's lithographed building below. 

It is nearly impossible to tell the age of paint from a photo, which is why most novice collectors will not touch a WWI helmet in good condition. Instead, they are all looking for cracked lead paint and corrosion.

I agree with Mike- I too would have bought it if I had gone to the show.  image.png.f13ef0a4ac8feb5a67ccf0a88f9a6f55.png

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@MAW @Sauk13,

 

Thank you! Your comment on the printing and Rooster's observation on the cracking encouraged me to zoom in and screen shot the images I took. It should be noted that posting photos on the forum, no matter how high of quality, will always degrade in terms of resolution. I do my best to take good photos of items with my Canon DSLR but sometimes stuff does come out looking off.

 

With that said, here are zoomed-in screenshots of the very same photos I shared earlier in this thread. Note the cracking, patina, and painted black lines present in each of the photos:

 

Screenshot2024-10-02193050.png.7812b8fff53b225637990b4fa0cab067.png

 

Screenshot2024-10-02193149.png.75e7c7cff8e50b0eb3350a21cc994754.png

 

Screenshot2024-10-02193308.png.bf72b200f88050daeb24a3b4a1b8e4f7.png

 

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Screenshot2024-10-02193430.png.0ec211c52c334bf166c45254e70e7c17.png

 

Best Regards,

-J.D.

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Wow! I am glad I threw in the disclaimer!!!

Thank you for the close ups. I know what you are saying about cameras. I had a heck of a time picking up the detail in the pics I posted.

Nice Lid! Thank you and thank you for teaching me something.

Cheers!

Dave

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