Category Archives: United States

Vented International Hat Company Helmet

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During the Second World War the St. Louis, Missouri-based International Hat Company, formerly the International Harvest Hat Company, produced the “pressed fiber” sun helmet for the United States Army, Marines and Navy. Tens of thousands of these were produced by International Hat Company based on the pattern developed by Hawley Products Company.

It is well-known, and widely established, that the United States Marine Corp used the International Hat pith helmet as both combat gear, as well as a standard part of the Marine Corps training uniform. In both roles the helmet had one major drawback – it didn’t provide adequate ventilation to the wearer’s head.

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The American M1880 Officer’s Sun Helmet

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While the “sun” or “pith” helmet originated in India its apparent value in protecting a wearer from the dangers of the sun was enough to convince numerous military planners to follow suit and introduce similar helmets. While the French may have adopted a sun helmet in 1878 this was soon followed by the Americans – who adopted a helmet pattern in 1880.

As we have noted, the Model 1880 helmet was the first style of helmet adopted by the American military, and reportedly only some 6,000 were produced. As with the later patterns this helmet features a four-panel construction. One unique variation of this helmet was the officer pattern – which is believed to have been a private purchase item.

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The Camouflage Pressed Fiber Helmet

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The American pressed fiber sun helmet still remains very much a mystery at times. Its history hasn’t been well documented and while the research continues it isn’t clear when or even why changes to the patterns were made. What is notable is that the helmet appears to have gone through an evolution.

Now an interesting example has been discovered and it remains the only such one of its type. As seen above it is a camouflage version, which likely dates from the early 1940s. It features three grommet holes on each side, which are used to hold the liner and chinstrap in place. Remnants of the leather chinstrap remain. This helmet lacks the front grommet typically seen in helmets produced expressly for the USMC. Continue reading →

What’s In a Name? The Pressed Fiber Helmet

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The American pressed fiber helmet, which was used from the late 1930s until the 1990s, is unique in that it didn’t follow the U.S. Military tradition of naming everything. It had no model number and hence isn’t an M1 Sun Helmet – and for the record that might have been confusing with the M1 Steel Helmet. Continue reading →

The Original Camouflage: Khaki Part VII – Khaki’s Use by the Americans

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An early 20th century post card that shows the transition from U.S. Blue to Khaki

It wasn’t just the Europeans or the Japanese who utilized khaki, as so too did the American military, which first adopted khaki during the Spanish America War in 1898. Until that time the United States Army was outfitted with the M1883 fatigue blouse in blue. However, the large numbers of volunteers – as well as the fact that soldiers were falling prey to heat exhaustion and dehydration – forced the army to experiment with lighter-colored and lighter-weight materials. The United States thus adopted the “khaki cotton drill” and in 1903 the army authorized these as the official hot weather fatigue and field dress. Continue reading →

Evolution of the American Pressed Fiber Helmet

Part of the author's collection of Pressed Fiber Helmets

Part of the author’s collection of Pressed Fiber Helmets

Sadly little has been written on the American “Pressed Fiber Helmet,” which actually was in service longer than other other helmet with the American military. While we’ve previously noted that this pattern helmet was produced by two companies – Hawley Products and International Hat Company – little of its history and variations have been chronicled.

While a definitive timeline is still very much a point of conjecture and speculation, this author has attempted to create a reasonable timeline of that follows the evolution of the helmets.

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The American M1880 Helmet

M1880While much has been written about the M1887/89 pattern American sun helmet – including by this author – there is the far less encountered M1880 helmet. This designation actually appears to have been used interchangeably over the years to describe the helmet pattern above, as well as the used by various National Guard units. Continue reading →