Original U.S. Korean War USMC McCord M1 Helmet with Westinghouse Liner & USMC Cover With Stenciled Eagle, Globe and Anchor

Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice service-used example of a Korean War Era U.S. Marine Corps Issue M1 Helmet as used during the Korean War Era and into the early Vietnam Conflict. The helmet shell is a front-seam, swivel bale example with a heat stamp 985A. 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.

The helmet comes with a great U.S. Marine Corps Reversible Camouflage Cover, which still has a stamped EGA on the front which was done during the Korean War and not WWII. We checked every flap and we could not find a manufacturer stamp, which is not unheard of.

The liner is correct "high pressure" WWII issue and stamped with a W for the Westinghouse Electric Co, Manufactured in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this "high pressure" manufactured M-1 helmet liner is identified by an embossed "W" in the crown (which is still Westinghouse's logo to this day). Westinghouse was the largest M-1 helmet liner producer and had two production divisions; Micarta and Bryant Electric. The Micarta Division produced about 13,000,000 M-1 helmet liners and the Bryant Electric Division about 10,000,000. Westinghouse Electric Company started M-1 helmet liner delivery in May 1942. Westinghouse did have a contract to produce airborne liners and converted an unknown amount to airborne configuration. Westinghouse discontinued production around August 17, 1945 when the war ended.

This example has a reproduction liner chinstrap added for display. The sweatband shows very heavy wear and some dry rot.

The cover is the first pattern to be used during WWII & Korea 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 nice worn example of a Korean War 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.