A lady who responded to my newspaper ad said on the phone it was something her father brought back from WWII. She kept mentioning the poor condition of the leather, but I've seen plenty of German helmets with no suspension so that wasn't a deal breaker. I drove an hour to her home in the country and when I follow her to th kitchen, this is spread out on the counter in pieces: broken pieces, rock hard distorted leather, rusted broken chin strap scales, dented spike, missing hardware, etc. I gave her $25 and she was amazed I'd pay that much.

 

Here's what it looked like when I go it home: this is only angle where it doesn't look thrashed (note the loose visor).

 

 

This is the worst side showing the leather frozen into a distorted shape. If you tried to bend it, it would break.

 

 

One visor was missing. The leather shell almost looks normal from this angle.

 

 

Here's the chinstrap pieces:

 

 

They look better from this side:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The spike hardware:

 

 

This is what's left of the cockades:

 

I decided to see if I could make back my $25 (and gas money) by selling these thrashed parts on ebay. The rockhard crushed leather shell was tossed in the trash, the others listed.

 

I was amazed: buyers snapped it up. In each listing I showed the photo of the shell with the parts on it, so buyers could see what it all came from.

 

One guy messaged me and asked if the shell was for sale! It was still in my studio trash can: I told him it was trash, but he still offered $35 for it.

 

All total I think the parted-out pickelhaube grossed almost $300. I never would have imagined.

Pretty nifty, though the "State" is Sachsen, Their State colored Korkade ist Grun-Weiss.

 

 

https://oldthing.de/Seltene-Original-Pickelhaube-Sachsen-Infanterie-Regiment-103-Bautzen-108402-0030681717

Pretty nifty, though the "State" is Sachsen, Their State colored Korkade ist Grun-Weiss.

 

 

 

Thanks - it looks better assembled. I hope some of those pieces helped on a restoration. I still wonder what they guy was going to do with the shell I pulled out of the trash?

 

Thanks - it looks better assembled. I hope some of those pieces helped on a restoration. I still wonder what they guy was going to do with the shell I pulled out of the trash?

I dunno, he might try to reshape it.

Amazing story! I love reselling! Brilliant job!

 

Actually, what really shocked me (and Mom and Sis, too) was that the helmet is leather! I never knew that! They were probably more comfortable than we thought! Certainly not as heavy!

I dunno, he might try to reshape it.

 

Can you do that with leather that's dried up and hard?

Yeah, I found a similar one and sold the parts. To say I was shocked by what I got for the parts, would be an understatement. Lol! Great find!

 

Can you do that with leather that's dried up and hard?

Wouldn't think so right, so there's got to be a method to his madness

Amazing story! I love reselling! Brilliant job!

 

Actually, what really shocked me (and Mom and Sis, too) was that the helmet is leather! I never knew that! They were probably more comfortable than we thought! Certainly not as heavy!

 

Some war time helmets were made out of pressed woo/felt too

Pretty nifty, though the "State" is Sachsen,

 

My 5th great grandfather was from Hesse state and drafted into His Majesty's Service in the American rebellion. I'm used to people calling all such troops, "Hessians" regardless of where they actually came from. Hessian and Prussian seem to have become generic terms for German armies of certain periods - I know it makes easier for lazy people like me who could never remember the other states, let alone their unit marks.

D'oh! We just picked up an early Tshapka from the same era missing chinscales and cocade...

Amazing!

Nice to see all the parts utilized like that.Pony.

I know when I've needed a part for a pickelhaube, they dont come cheap !

I always try to pick up parts, cheap, as they are good for trading.

Regards,

John