While today everyone pretty much buys everything on Amazon.com or some other online retailer back not all that long ago catalogs provided a way for people to browse products from the comfort of their homes. This interwar catalog from Ellwood Hats Ltd. successors to J. Ellwood & Sons of London shows how sun/pith helmets were marketed.
While the term “pith helmet” is used to describe almost all sun helmets, the actual use of “sola pith” material is generally only seen in the construction of helmets made in Asia, including India and the Far East. One of the more popular – and high end – examples of Indian-made sun helmets is the “Cawnpore Tent Club Helmet,” which is noted for its shape and more importantly the quilted linen covering.
All of the examples encountered to date have been made of pith, but recently one has been discovered at a flea market in Munich, Germany, and this example was made of cork. Continue reading
A pith helmet in the capital of the British Empire might not seem that odd at all. A helmet made of pith with a London maker/retailer stamp does seem a bit more odd – especially when one considers that the majority of helmets produced in Great Britain were in fact made of cork. As we’ve noted cork and pith are two distinct materials, and English hatters opted for cork, which came from nearby Portugal; while we have found that Indian hatters worked with sola pith, which was more common in the subcontinent.
There are no doubt countless exceptions to the rule, and both Roland Gruschka and I have discovered Wolseley helmets that seem to have been made in India. This is interesting as the Wolseley was a helmet largely produced in cork. Shortages of the material in World War I resulted in helmets with straw bodies as noted by two examples in my colleague Stuart Bates’ collection, and during World War II shortages of cork resulted in helmets being produced out of pressed felt. Continue reading
The classic Japanese “Safari” style helmet (collection of Jareth Holub)
One of the great misconceptions of Japanese tropical headgear of the Second World War is that the pattern known to collectors as “English,” “safari” or “European” was in fact produced outside of Japan. This is likely based on the fact that the helmets are similar in shape externally to the various Indian pattern helmets but also because the maker labels inside are in English. Continue reading
(Collection of Marc Giles)
Since posting last month about “The Forgotten American Experimental Helmet,” more information on this particular pattern has come to light. Apparently the helmet isn’t really so forgotten as it does appear in several reports and even some news accounts.
Even more interesting is the fact that a collector has come forward not only with some additional details but some photos of the actual helmet! Collector Marc Giles currently owns what is for now the only known surviving example of this helmet. Continue reading
A 2nd Boer War example of a khaki Colonial helmet with flash to the 4th or Royal Lancaster Regiment. (Author’s collection)
The Colonial Pattern helmet was officially introduced for use by the British Army in 1877 1 although it had been worn in India several years prior to that date. Continue reading