Item Description
Original Item: Only One Available. When the United States entered World War I in 1917 it had no steel helmet. The American military turned to Dr. Bashford Dean, an American zoologist and armor expert who served on the board at both the New York Natural History Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to help design a helmet for the soldiers heading to France.
One of the later so-called "experimental" patterns was the Model 8. It followed the "Model 7", also known as the "Sentinel's Helmet", which was pretty much a full head covering with hinged sides, like a knight's helmet. The 8 eliminated that design, but still featured a heavy front face visor with eye slit openings, somewhat like the German Schutzschild Sniper Face Shield. It was definitely the most striking of the American experimental helmets to be produced in large numbers.
Ford Motor Company began production of the Model 8 in November 1918, completing about 1,300 helmets. It featured a three-pad liner system similar to the one found in the Model 2. The benefits of this helmet were that with the visor down it does protect the face almost entirely, while the slits would provide reasonable field of view. Arriving just as the Armistice was signed, the Model 8 never saw combat service in France.
This example is one of the few known surviving examples, and likely one of the very few perhaps only examples painted in period camouflage. The helmet is painted with a gorgeous sand textured panel camouflage, consisting of greens, browns, and dark burgundy. The paint appears to be period applied and no sections glow under a black light. As these helmets never saw any combat, this likely painted post-armistice.
The original chin strap is still present and complete (rare), and is very similar to the design eventually adopted for the "Kelly" and later M1 helmets. The three pad liner is mostly intact, with just one of the six tongues missing. The leather is certainly worn and shows heavy cracking and crazing, but is still fully intact. Lifting up the broken pad reveals a name written underneath, G. Ed. Poe. This may be the name of the soldier who painted the helmet, and likely means George Edgar Poe (After Edgar Allen Poe), but we cannot be sure. Definitely requires further research!
Overall a very nice & uniquely painted example of one of the most rare helmets from the Great War Era, ready to display!
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