Original U.S. Korean War USMC M1 Helmet with Seaman Paper Company Liner and 1st Pattern USMC Camouflage “Frogskin” Cover - Complete

Original Item: Only One Available. This is an excellent example of a WWII U.S. Marine Corps Issue M1 Helmet as used during WWII, the Korean War, and into the early Vietnam Conflict. The shell is a mid-war WWII Produced M1 Helmet, with a front seam swivel bale made by McCord. The helmet comes with an excellent condition Wartime manufactured First Pattern U.S. Marine Corps Reversible Camouflage Cover that is in excellent condition. The helmet is complete with a WWII issue, "High Pressure" liner and leather chinstrap. The complete set is in great service-worn condition, however it does show signs of honest wear, storage age, and handling over the decades.

The U.S. WWII M-1 helmet was only produced from 1941 to 1945. The first production batch resulted with over 323,510 M-1 helmets before the start of the American involvement in the war. This helmet is heat-lot stamped 1094A. This helmet is a fine example and still retains all of its original WWII parts and the shell has all original "corked" grain paint with rear seam and swivel bails. The chin strap is the correct late war OD Green with blacked brass stamped hardware, and one end of the chinstrap is tearing heavily with staining. The chinstrap should either be repaired or left alone.

The liner is correct high pressure WWII issue and stamped with a S in an oval for the SEAMAN PAPER COMPANY. Manufactured in Chicago, Illinois this "high pressure" manufactured M-1 helmet liner is identified by an embossed "S" in the crown. Seaman Paper Company started delivery to the US Army in September 1942. They produced approximately between 2,000,000 - 4,000,000 M-1 helmet liners and discontinued production around August 17, 1945 when the war ended.

This true, lovely service worn condition US WWII M-1 helmet liner can be identified through the frontal eyelet hole. Other correct WW2 features include cotton herringbone twill (HBT) OD Green #3 cloth suspension. This HBT suspension is held tightly within the M-1 helmet liner by rivets and a series of triangular "A" washers. The three upper suspension bands are joined together with a correct string. This way the wearer could adjust the fit. The sweatband chinstrap is present and seated upon the brim, but is worn.

The cover is the first pattern to be used during WWII which does not have the 16 foliage buttonhole slits in the top of the helmet cover, or buttonhole on each one of the “fingers”. The helmet has a non-factory applied USMC Eagle, Globe, Anchor Insignia stencil painted on the front. The practice of which is debated if it was done during WWII or not. Some believe it was done on an individual basis, or at unit level. We do know that USMC camo covers were not made with the EGA markings until after WWII.

A very nice example of a WWII issue USMC helmet, perfect for any collection! Ready to display!

The M1 Helmet
The Ordnance Department selected McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit Michigan to produce the steel M1 helmet bodies. These bodies were made from a single piece of Hadfield Manganese steel that was produced by the Carnegie-Illinois & Sharon Steel Corporations. Each completed raw M-1 helmet shell weighed 2.25 lbs each. The total production of M-1 helmet shells during the war reached 22,000,000. Of these about 20,000,000 were produced by the main contractor McCord Radiator and Manufacturing Company of Detroit. Although McCord was supposed to be the single source of M-1 helmet shells, by the summer of 1942 a second company was enlisted to help the production effort. This was Schlueter Manufacturing of St. Louis, Missouri. Schlueter began production of its M-1 helmet shells in January 1943. Schlueter produced only 2,000,000 M-1 helmet shells during the war (both fixed and swivel).

The early M-1 helmet shells had a set of fixed (static) chinstrap loops called "bales" and a stainless steel rim. These rims were both rust resistant and had "non-magnetic qualities" that reduced the chance of error readings when placed around certain sensitive equipment (such as a compass). In October 1943, issues with the fixed bales breaking off resulted in a change to the "swivel bales" that this helmet has. In 1944, to deal with paint wearing off the very shiny stainless steel rim, the material was changed to manganese steel in October, and then the seam moved to the rear in November.