Despite everybody's advice, I went ahead and bought the thing. I didn't spend an arm and a leg, but it wasn't a total steal either. I thought it was cool and I wanted to have a close look so I bought it, ok?
. So here's a description...
It’s a Model 1915 Mannschaften or other ranks Kurassier pickelhaube. The helmet was given to a Mr. Alexander who appears to have been a big patron of war bonds. The helmet came to me via the grandson of the Mr. Alexander’s chauffeur who was given the piece by his employer. According to the grandson Mr. Alexander was the owner of a brokerage firm.
The helmet is in its original c1919 condition. To make a special presentation piece for somebody who probably purchased a lot of war bonds, the helmet was spruced up. This was accomplished by removing the helmet hardware and nickel plating the shell and front plate. The interior was repainted black on the dome and green on the visor and cape. The kokarden, chinstrap and liner are their original factory state. The wappen is the correct kurassier type.
The helmet is dated 1916. The manufacturer stamp is partly obscured, but reads, "...AMASCHI..." It's marked "56" on the back trim.
The helmet comes with several photocopies of the original letter. Unfortunately the original is lost. The hard-to-read hand written letter was helpfully transcribed in a typed version for easy reading. Here’s the content full of early post-war hyperbole and misinformation:
“Dear Mr. Alexander: These helmets are rather rare. They may have considerable historic value someday, and I thought you might care to have one in your office as a war memento. They are authentic. They were captured by American troops in Coblenz, where they were stored for officers’ use in the victorious march through Paris which never came off. In a sense they are even more significance (sic) than the German trench helmet, in that they typify so well the pride, arrogance and overbearing self confidence of the Hun. Sincerely yours, Guy Emerson May 15, 1919”
It not an officer’s helmet and it was stored along with about 20,000 other pickelhaubes in Coblenz not for a Paris victory parade, but because by the time of their manufacture in the middle of the war, they were obsolete.
According to the Treasury Department letterhead, Guy Emerson was Vice-Director in Charge of Publicity and War Savings for the Liberty Loan Committee/War Savings Committee of the Government Loan Organization, Treasury Department, Second Federal Reserve District. And no, I didn’t make this up. You can look at the letterhead yourself. How would you like that as a title? “Hi. I’m Guy Emerson, Vice-Director blah-blah-blah…” It occurred to me that Mr. Emerson, who was responsible for war bond publicity, might be the very individual who was responsible for bringing all those nice unissued Coblenz pickelhaubes to the US and distributing them to war bond purchasers so that we pickelhaube collectors could find them in attics a hundred years later. Better treat the guy with a degree of respect.
A nice feature of this helmet is that it came with an old hat box, possibly from the company that modified the helmet for Mr. Alexander. At any rate, thought the whole thing was cool.
Mark D.
Ron
