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[antiquefootball]

Perez,

There are a bunch of different branches to the football helmet's evolutionary tree. I started at the roots (ear protector/4-strap) and ran out the branch that was the most logical path to get to the modern helmet. The helmet shown as the 1905 example is a flattop. I believe that it is around the 0:31 second mark in the video. Flattops came out around 1905 and were sold all the way through the mid 1920's. 8-spokes share that same timeline, first appearing around 1905 and continued to be used by players all the way through the 1920's. However, based on my catalog research, at no time did 8-spokes represent the pinnacle of helmet design. They were introduced as a less expensive and more airy alternative.

Check out the charts below the video for the evolution of Spalding and Reach helmets between 1894 and 1925. These are comprehensive and show every helmet style manufactured during that period.