Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is a rare and odd item to encounter today. During a time in American history when they looked to emulate the victors of fierce wars. In this case it was Prussia and their uniforms which gave off a strong and menacing appearance. After the Franco-Prussian war and the defeat of the French, America turned to Prussia for importation to outfit their troops. This was during an era where the US after the Civil War was looking for standardized uniforms as the already existing stocks of Civil War era uniforms were depleted. This period resulted in the short lived adoption of the famed boiled leather Pickelhaubes.

The Pickelhaube itself appears to be an imported Model 1871. The M1871 Pickelhaube replaced the Model 1867, fixing some of the issues with that model. The slider system for attaching the wappen (helmet plate) was reverted to the securing bolts, as the sliding system did not secure the wappen sufficiently, resulting in loss, though this American used example still retains the eyelet with leather wedges. At the same time a rear spine with hidden bolts soldered to the underside of the spine was introduced as the helmet proved to be too weak without it. This particular helmet still utilizes the earlier attachment methods of eyelets with securing rings or leather wedges like the “wappen”.

The Federal Eagle helmet plate is very similar to the badge found on the Model 1881 spiked helmets but the eagle is right facing with its wings spread further out. The badge is held on much like the later German WWI era with the soldered loop and leather wedges securing it in place. The badge does appear to the helmet with a nice ghosting effect present on the boiled leather.

The front and rear visors are trimmed with brass in the same manner as the German pickelhaubes. The brass trim gave the helmet a much needed structural support and at times they offered a little extra protection. Unfortunately both the front and rear visors have extensive bubbling and cracking in the finish, commonly encountered with these short lived helmets. The rear visor itself is almost completely detached from the helmet with the rear brass spine only holding the two together. There is a small piece of wire on each end of the rear visor to ensure that it stays somewhat attached to the helmet and does not get lost.

The brass chinscales are similar to the Prussian officer types, scaled layers with a leather backing. The right side of the chinstrap is missing about half of the scales and the two piece are being held together over the front visor to also ensure that there is no further damage done.

There is no lining present.

These helmets are very rarely encountered, especially in near complete condition such as this one. The overall condition is quite nice for display but could use a soft cleaning and possible repairs if you would wish to do so.

Comes more than ready for further research and display.