Original U.S. WWII Westinghouse Early Rayon Suspension M1 Helmet Liner Used in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan with Added Sweatband & Chinstrap with Copy of Notarized Letter of Authenticity
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Original Item: Only One Available. This is an original production-used M1 helmet liner from Steven Spielberg’s landmark 1998 film Saving Private Ryan. The liner is one of the first examples ever produced by Westinghouse, with rectangular washers instead of triangular, a rayon suspension, non-removable chinstrap loops, and a brass front grommet. With a Costume Rentals Corporation identification in the crown, this is a documented surviving wardrobe artifact from one of the most influential World War II films ever produced.
The liner is embossed with a W over lot number D13 for Westinghouse Electric Co of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These "high pressure" manufactured M-1 helmet liners are identified by an embossed "W" in the crown (which is still Westinghouse's logo to this day). Westinghouse was the largest M-1 helmet liner producer and had two production divisions; Micarta and Bryant Electric. The Micarta Division produced about 13,000,000 M-1 helmet liners and the Bryant Electric Division about 10,000,000. Westinghouse Electric Company started M-1 helmet liner delivery in May 1942.
The liner has a 1974-dated leather sweatband which was added for filming. As this was the very first iteration made by Westinghouse, it has chinstrap loops that were non-removable, and the original chinstrap is gone. The current liner chinstrap is attached via zip-ties to the early bales, with one of them now broken off, certainly done during filming so it looked correct on whatever soldier was wearing it. The liner shell has some cracking along the edge as shown, with paint residue along the edge from a repainting.
The interior of the liner is marked in black marker: CRC. These initials identify Costume Rentals Corporation, the major Hollywood wardrobe supplier that provided a substantial quantity of WWII-style uniforms, helmets, and equipment for the production of Saving Private Ryan.
This liner was among the material released following the closure of Costume Rentals Corporation in 2025 and had not previously been made available on the collector market.
The liner is accompanied by a printed copy of a notarized letter confirming that it and related materials originated from Costume Rentals Corporation and were used during the production of Saving Private Ryan. The letter was signed by Harlan Glenn, who worked on the film as a costume consultant and purchaser.
Released in 1998, Saving Private Ryan transformed the depiction of World War II on screen. Its intensely realistic recreation of the Normandy landings established a new standard for military filmmaking and influenced nearly every major WWII film, television series, and video game that followed.
International Military Antiques also has a direct connection to the production, having supplied machine guns, edged weapons, and numerous other pieces of equipment used during filming.
The combination of the early Westinghouse construction, surviving rayon suspension, D13 lot marking, later film modifications, CRC inventory marking, edge cracking and repaint residue, and accompanying copy of the notarized Costume Rentals Corporation provenance letter makes this an unusually compelling artifact bridging authentic WWII military equipment and the production history of one of the most important WWII films of the modern era.
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