Original U.S. Lieutenant’s M1 Helmet Used in Saving Private Ryan with Matching Liner – 29th Infantry Division – With Copy of Notarized Letter of Authenticity
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Original Item: Only One Available. This is one of the original prop helmets used during the filming of Steven Spielberg's seminal work "Saving Private Ryan". The outside was painted with the 29th Infantry Division insignia and 2nd Lieutenant bar to the front and a vertical “Follow Me” bar to the back. The shell itself is an original WWII Rear Seam Swivel Bale, but the heat lot number is now far too worn to read. The liner is matching the helmet with the 29th Infantry Division insignia painted to the front.
The helmet bears the initials CRC written in black marker on the interior of the shell, and the initials SPR are written in the liner. CRC denotes that the helmet originated from Costume Rentals Corporation (CRC), which supplied a substantial portion of the World War II–era wardrobe and uniform pieces used in the film. This helmet—along with other materials—was only recently released following CRC’s closure in 2025, and as such, has never previously been offered on the market. SPR is just denoting the name of the film it was used in, Saving Private Ryan.
This helmet comes with a printed copy of a notarized letter confirming that the helmet and other material came from CRC, the Costume Rentals Corporation, who supplied a substantial amount of World War II-era wardrobe and uniform pieces for use in the film. The letter confirms that these materials were indeed used in the Production of SPR. The letter was signed by Harlan Glenn, who worked on the production of "Saving Private Ryan" as Costume Consultant and Purchaser.
The helmet is fitted with a Korean War era CAPAC Westinghouse liner with dark green suspension and an intact sweatband. It is also painted to the front with the 29th ID Insignia. Like most helmets used in the production, a variety of shells and liners were used. Liners used were a wide variety, ranging from original WWII production, Vietnam era, 1980s, foreign clones, etc. The helmet shell retains a Korean War era chinstrap.
This is a wonderful example of a helmet used in the popular film “Saving Private Ryan”. There couldn’t have been that many 2nd Lieutenants in the 29th ID in the film, so this one could have some possible IDs. Comes ready for display.
The M1 Helmet
The Ordnance Department selected McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit Michigan to produce the steel M1 helmet bodies. These bodies were made from a single piece of Hadfield Manganese steel that was produced by the Carnegie-Illinois & Sharon Steel Corporations. Each completed raw M-1 helmet shell weighed 2.25 lbs each. The total production of M-1 helmet shells during the war reached 22,000,000. Of these about 20,000,000 were produced by the main contractor McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit. Although McCord was supposed to be the single source of M-1 helmet shells, by the summer of 1942 a second company was enlisted to help the production effort. This was Schlueter Manufacturing of St. Louis, Missouri. Schlueter began production of its M-1 helmet shells in January 1943. Schlueter produced only 2,000,000 M-1 helmet shells during the war (both fixed and swivel).
The early M-1 helmet shells had a set of fixed (static) chinstrap loops called "bales" and a stainless steel rim. These rims were both rust resistant and had "non-magnetic qualities" that reduced the chance of error readings when placed around certain sensitive equipment (such as a compass). In October 1943, issues with the fixed bales breaking off resulted in a change to the "swivel bales" that this helmet has. In 1944, to deal with paint wearing off the very shiny stainless steel rim, the material was changed to manganese steel in October, and then the seam moved to the rear in November.
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