Original U.S. WWII McCord M1 Fixed Bale Front Seam Helmet with Rare 2nd Pattern Hawley Paper Liner
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Original Item: One-of-a-Kind. This is a very desirable early WWII McCord M1 fixed-bale, front-seam helmet paired with an extremely scarce 2nd Pattern Hawley pressed-fiber liner. The helmet retains its early fixed chinstrap loops, original corked finish, khaki chinstrap with blackened brass hardware, and a remarkably complete Hawley liner with suspension and leather chinstrap still present, though the liner body itself shows significant age-related breakage.
The U.S. WWII M-1 helmet was only produced from 1941 to 1945. The first production batch resulted with over 323,510 M-1 helmets before the start of the American involvement in the war. This helmet is heat-lot stamped 235E, a very early example.
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 early M-1 helmet shells had a set of fixed 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).
This helmet is a fine example and still retains all of its original WW2 parts and the shell has all original "corked" grain paint with a front seam and fixed bails. The chin strap is the correct khaki with blacked brass hardware, and is in fair condition with a partial tear on one side near the bale.
Condition of the shell is quite nice, with only a few dents. There is also still a good amount of paint on the Stainless Steel rim, which was prone to wear. The Hawley liner is in fair condition for its age with some breakage in the body and tearing of the trim along the edge. The Hawley liners were made of paper, and unfortunately not nearly as resistant to wear as the "high-pressure" type. The most damage is in the front brim which is broken open as shown. The webbing does show minor tearing and oxidation staining as well. The liner even retains the rare leather chinstrap.
The combination of the 235E heat lot, fixed bales, front seam, original corked shell finish, early khaki chinstrap with blackened brass fittings, and rare 2nd Pattern Hawley liner with surviving suspension and leather chinstrap makes this a particularly strong early-war M1 helmet assembly. The liner’s damage is significant but also typical of genuine pressed-fiber Hawley examples, and the set remains an excellent study piece representing the earliest phase of U.S. M1 helmet production during WWII.
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