WWI U.S. No. 2 Experimental Helmet
When the United States entered World War I it had no steel helmet and was initially equipped with British Brodie helmets. The American military turned to Dr. Bashford Dean, curator of arms and armor at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and an armor expert, to design a new helmet. Submitted in June of 1917, the No.2 helmet featured a larger rim than the British or French helmets with its design influenced by the helmets of classical Greece. Basher makes no references in his book Helmets and Body Armor in Modern Warfare of a No.1 helmet. There was some field testing of the No. 2 and it was well received. 2,000 were produced by the Ford Motor Company of Detroit, Michigan. However, it was difficult to manufacture and to close in design to the German M16 helmet, and was rejected by the U.S. Army. This example is solid with a strong finish and the two German style liner 'pillows' intact.
$1,250.00 SOLD