Leather Football Helmet

[Duluth Eskimo]

Carlton,
That 1902 Yale team and the 1920 rose bowl piece are outstanding. I almost missed the sweater ad too. Those pieces are awesome

[CarltonHendricks]

Our new member Foamspoon Bryan seems to have stopped in for a cup of joe and forgot to return....I hope he gets all this instruction and help. If not at least he started a good thread

Phil,
Thanks.....and back at ya....Those are certainly all top grade helmets in very good condition. I like the darker hard shell one on the right of the top photo....like I say they're all premium examples....I'll take a guess you go for quality over quantity. That Princeton seems to have a black top. If so never seen one like that. The Princeton seems to be one of the toughest styles to find. So how long did it take you to acquire a collection like that?...and how did you? Did you get them out of auctions or straight sales?....you're to be commended...Do you collect any other areas of early football memorabilia?

Mr. Jason Sir,
Thanks for the approval...not all those pieces are mine, I just used photos that were handy to give Bryan some food for thought...however those three pieces you mention do happen to be mine. Harvard has an example of the 1920 Tournament of Roses poster in their football Coach's Lounge. I saw it when I was there at Harvard to shoot their trophies in 2011. Interestingly my guide Renny Little, Harvard's trophy curator, told me they had one that got stolen, and the one they have now was donated my an alum. Link below to see they're example and read the story.
http://sportsantiques.com/pg7brimsstory.htm



Yeah that Bradley Sweater poster was a nice find . There is a Bradley Sweaters trifold window display I've seen surface a couple times that is off the chart. The last one I saw at the 2006 National, which you can see in the link below in the late Tony Bussineau's booth
http://www.sportsantiques.com/06natpage1.htm





That 1902 Mogul Cigarettes poster just came in real handy. There's a player on there named Harold Metcalf who played fullback. Recently there was a find of a bunch of Yale hats and sweaters that belonged to him. A friend of mine got two of the sweaters so I dug up some bio of Metcalf to go with them.





http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2...mode=fullstory
Also on the Mogul Cigs poster is a portrait of Tom Shevlin who played Defensive End and was one Yale's greatest all time players...as well as being probably college footballs all time most colorful personality...race car driving playboy millioniare undergrad... below a foreboding grimacing photo of him...Above is a link to a July 21, 2012 story on him in the New Haven Register.

[pgellis]

Originally Posted by CarltonHendricks

[FONT="Arial"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Navy"]Our new member Foamspoon Bryan seems to have stopped in for a cup of joe and forgot to return....I hope he gets all this instruction and help. If not at least he started a good thread

Phil,
Thanks.....and back at ya....Those are certainly all top grade helmets in very good condition. I like the darker hard shell one on the right of the top photo....like I say they're all premium examples....I'll take a guess you go for quality over quantity. That Princeton seems to have a black top. If so never seen one like that. The Princeton seems to be one of the toughest styles to find. So how long did it take you to acquire a collection like that?...and how did you? Did you get them out of auctions or straight sales?....you're to be commended...Do you collect any other areas of early football memorabilia?

Thanks Carlton. Yes that Princeton does have a black top. I will get a better picture or two for you over the weekend and post. I got that helmet in a Mears auction.

I am now collecting for quality over quantity like you guessed. I want to add high grade examples of types that I don't have (Executioner anyone?).

I have been collecting helmets and other football memorabilia for about 15 years. I would say about 3/4 of my collection I have got on eBay. Others with other auction houses (Mears, etc.)

The helmet with shoulder pads (Spaulding) I got about 13-14 years ago when I placed a "Wanted To Buy" add in my local newspaper (Cape Cod, MA). Somebody called and I got the Spaulding Helmet and matching shoulder pads in fabulous condition for $150.00.

I'll post more pictures this weekend.

Phil

[foamspoon]

thanks guys I am here! Absorbing everything in and searching the web. Deciding where I am going to start. Thanks for the great photos and info!

Bryan

[CarltonHendricks]

Originally Posted by foamspoon

thanks guys I am here! Absorbing everything in and searching the web. Deciding where I am going to start. Thanks for the great photos and info!

Bryan

Good deal foam....now I can stop looking on the sides of milk cartons :-)

[pgellis]

More pictures:

[CarltonHendricks]

Originally Posted by pgellis

More pictures:

Phil, Looking at that helmet in your case I thought it was a Princeton style but now that you post those large photos it isn't after all...It's great though....and in incredible condition with super clean padding inside....I don't recall ever seeing one like it...

Below is a good example of a Princeton style helmet...I don't know exactly for sure why it's called a Princeton but I think they were advertised as such in catalogs...I think Spalding catalogs. This one is a Reach. Generally I think helmets made by Spalding are the most sought after....and I think that's generally true with all antique sports equipment, baseball, football, etc.

Some of the other football helmet makers would be, Victor, Wright and Ditson, then I think Wright and Ditson and Victor merged into "Victor Wright and Ditson"...then you've got Reach, Draper Maynard (D&M), Lowell and Campbell, Goldsmith, Thomas Wilson, Remington...then later in the 40's I think there was, McGregor, Rawlings, Wilson, etc etc....I'm just giving a quick overview of ones I recall off the top my head but there are a lot of collectors that collect primarily equipment who would know them all...way better than me. Equipment is just one of the things I collect.



http://www.sportsantiques.com/portlandpg6.htm
There was another lesser known helmet maker named Schmelzer out of I think Kansas City....I once scored a killer dog ear by them on my way back from the Portland Expo antiques show in Portland Oregon which you can read about in the link above...gave a whopping $29.00 for it, and the way I came upon it is memorable...I also give the Schmelzer company history in the story...