What do helmets actually say?

[DougB]

It was funny, there was a post I read that had a severely banged up helmet and everyone oohed and ah'd at the combat helmet! The poster then said it was not in combat but near mint when his dad brought it home. He beat the hell out of wearing it playing army as a kid. I can recall several posts where vets said they shot them to put holes in them so they could say when they got home it was from combat.

Don't judge a book by its cover. :-)

I like the top conditioned helmets and "combat" examples equally, both carry historical significance.

[Totenhead]

You are debating this purely from the viewpoint that any helmet that has scratches , been dug from the ground or is damaged otherwise has seen 'war' and any helmet that survived the war unscathed is therefore just a worthless ornament which is historically insignificant. Flawed logic big time.

Anything that survived such an important historical period is of worth. Every single thing and not just militaria. It's all being collected and while it may not be your thing do not belittle what others collect.
So what about you ? I see you comment here often but are you in fact a helmet collector , from your comments I think you are not. it would be the same as if I would go on the dagger forum and question their reasons for collecting dress daggers , what historical relevance do they have ? Nobody uses them on a battlefield ? Silly.

Yes, you are correct, I am not at the moment an avid helmet collector. Reach out and touch faith
Johnny cash - YouTube

[DougB]

I think each helmet tells a story, and I love stories so I collect a lot of them LoL.

[Totenhead]

In your collection of course !! lol

[MD Helmets]

Helmets don't say a word, but they can speak volumes. Helmets are a testament to the past and remind us that the past is really not that far away and they help us remember the struggle and dark times of that period. They are the universal symbol of the German soldier.

Every German WWII helmet has a story. Some have long, researchable stories and it comes with a name. Some have very short stories with no names, and vice versa. A helmet that hung in a locker or sat on a desk has a story. Maybe not a grand story with tales of vicious battles and untimely deaths, instead maybe just a story of a young man who found himself being a desk jockey and paper pusher, whose helmet never touched the ground therefore it survived unscathed and is a mint example to be studied and learned from. On the other hand, a helmet may have been with one soldier for the entire war and saw extreme use and combat on the eastern Front, or lived it up in France until the invasion came and it was thrust into battle, maybe for a few days or a year. So all helmets have stories, some we know and some remain in the past never to be told. This doesn't make one helmet better than the next, it might just make one helmet more desirable than the another, but that all depends on what a collector wants. I don't blame any collector for collecting mint helmets or well worn and beat up helmets. That's the beauty of collecting. You can collect whatever condition you'd like. Not to mention the different sizes, makers, colors, decals and unique field paints. Iron Crosses might have difference by makers, but helmets can have differences based on how their owners modified them.

What my Helmets say to me: Don't forget.

[DougB]

And gents remember this is not a pro-or-anti anything, just wanted to present a viewpoint that non battle damaged / relic helmets also tell a story! Not meant to pit collector vs collector, the spirit of the thread is friendly!

Cheers
Doug

[MD Helmets]

And gents remember this is not a pro-or-anti anything, just wanted to present a viewpoint that non battle damaged / relic helmets also tell a story! Not meant to pit collector vs collector, the spirit of the thread is friendly!

Cheers
Doug

Hope you didn't see mine that way, Doug. A minor friendly comment to a previous post. This is a nice post. Being able to hear helmet collectors interpretations of their helmets is cool. We all have much in common.

[DougB]

No Todd my comment was just for those late coming to the thread that may think its taking some sort if stand in my part. Cheers

[relicz]

Helmets say nothing, but we as collectors try to put words in their mouths....... Or more appropriately said, " Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Yes, we try to interpret may things - originality, condition, wear and provenance. But, in the end, it is all just stuff and subject to our individual tastes and personal comfort levels.

[MD Helmets]

Helmets say nothing, but we as collectors try to put words in their mouths....... Or more appropriately said, " Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

Yes, we try to interpret may things - originality, condition, wear and provenance. But, in the end, it is all just stuff and subject to our individual tastes and personal comfort levels.

I respect your opinion, but helmets aren't just, "stuff." Stuff is the old clothes in boxes in my attic. Stuff is piles of paint cans, brushes and rollers in the corner of my basement next to my wife's seldom used kitchen ware. Helmets were a part of someone's life. They were a tool of protection on the battlefield. A symbol of German military might. Yes, they are objects of steel produced by factories, but they became personalized when they were placed on a soldiers head. They are a representation of history. I look at my helmets and wonder who they belonged to, where they had been and what they had seen, and what ET happened to their owners. I doubt anyone in 100 years will look at my old shirts or paint cans and wonder the same. That's what makes helmets, and all items of TR, speak to us.