Another “Forgotten” Colonial Power – The Danish Sun Helmet

Today when people think of Danish colonies Greenland likely comes to mind, and that’s not exactly the sort of place where a sun helmet is often required. However, Denmark was a colonial power in tropical regions and while it never really competed with the British, French, Spanish or Dutch in the Caribbean, the first Danish colony was founded in the West Indies in the 1660s.

The Danish West India Company was organized on March 11, 1672 and soon after established a settlement on St. Thomas. The Danish West Indies were invaded twice by the British – the first time during the French Revolutionary Wars and the second time during the Napoleonic Wars. Following those bloodless invasions the islands were at relative peace and managed by the Danish West Indies Gendarmerie as well as the West Indian Military Forces. Continue reading →

Is the “Pith Helmet” a Sign of Colonialism as the Media Believes it to be?

While we typically write about the history, use and even the evolution of military sun helmets and other tropical headdress, I felt it necessary to address another aspect of sun/pith helmets. Recently, First Lady of the United States Melania Trump was called out for simply choosing to wear a pith helmet as a part of a “safari” inspired outfit.

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The German Schutztruppen Slouch Hat

While the sun/pith helmet remains the iconic headdress of the colonial empires established by the European powers in the second half of the 19th century it wasn’t the only headgear favored by those colonial forces. Indigenous colonial forces utilized a variety of headdress of course, while slouch hats were increasingly favored by various units beginning in the 1880s. One of the more notable variations was the German slouch hat, which largely used in German South West Africa. Continue reading →

From Bengal to Scotland Yard, The Heir of the Air Pipe: Origins of the British Police Helmet, the Indian Connection

Figure 1. Top left, an Ellwood & Sons ‘Air Chamber’ military sun helmet, patented 1851, following traditional Indian designs it has a light weight cork construction, is cloth covered and has an ‘air pipe’ comb allowing air to freely circulate in the dome. Top right, a ‘Custodian’ police helmet by Christys & Co ltd (1952), uses almost identical construction methods; a version of this basic design was introduced in 1863 and was the only Custodian type for at least 10 years. Bottom left, a development of the sun helmet; a Christys & Co Ltd, late 1800s Colonial Pattern Sun Helmet. Bottom center, the attached Christys label. Bottom right, a near identically constructed police helmet, again by Christys, offered to the police as an alternative ‘Custodian’ style in the mid 1870s.

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The Roman Air Tube Helmet: The Origins of the British Sun Helmet

The Ellwood and Sons’ “Roman” Air Tube design was among the first British-made sun helmets. Its design came about largely as a result of Great Britain’s expanding empire in India and parts of Africa. It was in many ways an answer to locally made helmets, which were increasingly necessary due to the tropical heat of the subcontinent.

By the time of the Indian Mutiny, which began in 1857, the British had already had a presence in India for well more than 200 years yet it wasn’t until the 1840s – coinciding with the effects of the end of the Little Ice Age in Europe – that serious consideration was given to making uniforms and headdress more comfortable for wear in hot weather.

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The Ugly Duckling Or The Transformation Into a Beautiful Bird – With A Name.

The helmet as bought.

The helmet described in this article had been on offer on a certain internet auction platform at the UK for at least two years, headlined as “Vintage Pith Helmet World War 1 WW1 British Army First Please see photo” – The seller´s hint to see the photo first made sense: Many collectors probably have clicked to open the page and closed it immediately after having seen a helmet, filled with yellow foam – besides being offered at a price that was anything but a bargain.  Continue reading →

The Felt Austro-Hungarian Sun Helmet

The use of a sun helmet in the Austro-Hungarian army dates back to the Crete expedition of 1897-98 when a quantity of helmets were specially ordered from a company in Vienna. The need for a sun helmet arose again when Austro-Hungarian troops were sent to Palestine in 1915 to aid the Turkish army. With temperatures up to 120ºF in the summer, these 3,000 troops needed a tropical helmet to replace their wool field caps.

Two Austrian companies were contracted to make helmets, but many other hat makers also stepped up to provide “private purchase helmets.” Continue reading →