Tin Hat

[dhermann1]

Anybody got one of these? I got it at a stoop sale (that's yard sale to you non Brooklynites) many years ago for I think $5. My wife thought I was crazy. I love this old relic! It's heavy! When you wear it your voice echoes like you were in a tunnel!

It's like having a little piece of the Maginot Line on your head. The inside even looks like an abandoned tunnel.

I assume it's a WW I helmet that was used as a Civil Defense helmet in WW II. The paint is half gone, and I've attempted to clean it somewhat, but I don't want to destroy the "patina" of age. It looks as if there was a strip of leather across the forehead as a sweatband, which is pretty much dissolved at this point. Does anybody know more about the triangular striped symbol on the front?

 

[homergeg]

Looks like an Air Raid Warden symbol. What a fun find!!:

 

[dhermann1]

So I'd be like one of those guys in the Warner Bros cartoons going around screaming at people "Turn out those lights!!!"
Cool!

 

[griffer]

i just mistakenly read FOIL into the title...And here i thought this was a conspiracy theory thread...

 

[thunderw21]

I have one of those except without any insignia on the front. I love it, a nice piece for a homefront display.

 

[dhermann1]

Homefront display? Fiddlesticks! I wear it when it rains!


. . . . . (Not really).

 

[The Wingnut]

Quite the slapdash application on that insignia, there. Either the guy was in a hurry or he wanted those stripes vertical.

I'm reminded of a wartime comic with two wardens talking outside a well-lit window with a shapely woman's figure projected in backlight against the shade; "We'll wait a few minutes on this one."

 

[up196]

Air Raid Warden Helmet

]
I assume it's a WW I helmet that was used as a Civil Defense helmet in WW II.

It appears to be a purpose-made helmet for Air Raid Wardens. The M1917 (WWI) helmet and its replacement, the M1917A1 (early WWII) helmet, is not that deep and the liner is completely different in the way it is constructed and attached.

Nice find . . . Tom

 

[Mojave Jack]

When we moved out to a farm when I was young, the previous owners had used one of the old silos to dispose of their old trash. That place was a treasure trove for us kids, and one of the things I found in there was one of those CD helmets. We put it on and threw rocks at each other's heads to see if it would protect us! That went on until someone threw about a half pound chuck of concrete at someone else, and nearly knocked them unconscious. I can't remember who was there, but it seems to me it was my cousin Eric that threw the chuck. It was something he would do...

No idea where that helmet ended up.