Hello lebby, if you don?t mind I would like to add a couple of recollections and thoughts about the leather chapeau.
Upon entering FDNY proby school back in the day, there was a salesman from Cairns who would put a contraption on your head and measure your coconut and transfer the readings to construct your personal helmet. The helmet was designed to stay on your head, and it fit perfectly, sans a chin strap or ratchet device. It took months before we received our helmet, as all was hand made at the time. The front piece was fastened by small brass cotter pins, as was the bright orange proby insert.
I have always felt that your fire helmet was your personal calling card. Your personal trophy! Still to this day, I can remember some of the unique shapes the leather helmet would take on from usage and battles with the red devil. You could literally recognize a member through smoke from the shape of his helmet. The shape, wear and tear gave a size up about your experience quickly. We also called it ?saltiness?. You could gauge a covering boss by just taking a glance at his lid if you did not know him. Of course there are the stories of members putting them in heated ovens to create the faux saltiness. There was also known the Bronx Bend, where the back of the helmet was bent down usually by pliers. Years ago, the helmet tossed from a fire building indicated a firefighter in trouble.
Around 1993 the department began switching to another leather type helmet that was much heavier and cumbersome, this would be my second helmet. It sat high on your head, had reflective stickers, some type of heavy protective liner and a chin strap, which I really did not care for. Many guys had to add a "ratchet device" to tighten onto your head to keep the helmet from falling off. The front piece was fastened by two bolts that came from the inside out, and that is why you see helmets from that era with brass nuts.
Personally, I did not like the clean looking helmet, to me, the stains, bumps, tar, soot and grit was paydirt earned. A couple of stories: I knew one war year firefighter who painted his helmet every year for inspection, the dang thing felt like a cinder block, I suggested we use it as a wheel chock! I recall a buff asking a senior war years lieutenant with a pretty cool war-torned banged up helmet if he would consider selling his helmet. The officer said, "nah, you want it...just buy me a replacement that fits". The buff was gone like a shot to the NJ Cairns plant and back a few days later and the exchange was made. I also watched another senior war time veteran who had just retired, his very last tour, quietly sipping a cup of coffee by his locker with his helmet on his lap, occasionally picking it up and looking it over.
A few years ago the 9/11 Museum reached out to me, they knew about the 'Bench Photo' that circulated, and asked if I would contribute to the museum artifact collection that would be displayed upon the museum?s opening. I told them they could have the condemned bunker gear, boots, work shirt and flashlight I was wearing in the photo on 9/11, which they happily accepted. Then they requested my helmet. I said I don?t think I can part with it, however I would not mind loaning it to you. We made a deal, the helmet was on display for the first three years when the museum first opened. The museum used my helmet in promos, much to my surprise (photo below). Today it is back on my shelf in my den hanging out with my first helmet.
I don't know why, but when I see FDNY helmets for sale on e-bay I feel a little off. It seems like a historic piece of history, a symbol that paid the price and now just being passed along with no regard or appreciation of the action this helmet might have experienced, once a prize possession, a personal trophy... eventually headed to the big helmet collection in the sky. If it could only tell the story of it?s special history!
Hope you enjoyed reading.
