[CarltonHendricks]

Originally Posted by steve B

Yep, what the other guys have said. Bike helmet, probably 30's. Could be a bit newer, but that style was pretty much out after WWII. The postwar ones are slightly different and a bit better finished.

What area is it from? Lots of riders raced in the 6 day races in the 30's, especially in Chicago and NY.

Steve B

Thanks all for your help...Although I was 99.9% sure it was a bicycle helmet

Steve, You win the most well rounded award...How the heck did you know all that?...In twenty five years collecting I'd never come across one before. One guy in Seattle has a site http://classiccycleus.com/home/repair/memorabilia/ with this one below on it...and he states the quote below it. The seller hailed from Elmwood Park, Illinois...In my last email to her I said in jest to thank the garage sale she found it at...she replied back she got it at an estate sale...I assume in the Elmwood park area.



"Bicycle helmets have only been around since the 1930s, when Bill Honeman led the charge to get effective head protection for himself and his professional bike racing colleagues. Since the introduction of the leather hairnet, bike helmets have changed dramatically."....
http://classiccycleus.com/home/repair/memorabilia/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six-day_racing
I'd never heard of 6 day bicycle races till just last summer I picked up a 1938 6 Day Bike Race program, held in San Fraqncisco for $20.00. Some of the photos of the racers are signed....and on the inside back page is a photo of french racer wearing a helmet like mine. However searching online I couldn't find a single antique photo of a bicycle racer wearing one....So that tells me they're weren't a lot of them to begin with...and that explains why so few have survived and this was my first sighting. Given the global popularity of bicycles, I think rare bicycle antiques could get harder to find...acutally they're pretty hard right now!