Big Red Says:
Listen up Buttercup! Here's the rest of the story
So, TAKE FIVE!
Now that we know a loop is a loop, are all loops created equal?
The best weapon any militaria collector can arm himself or herself with is education. There are a significant number of tools that can help you identify the who, what, where, when and whys of historic items like the M-1 helmet. One of these tools is empirical evidence meaning observation.
An educated collector can determine who made an early M-1 helmet, McCord Radiator & Manufacturing Co. or Schlueter Manufacturing Co., by the variations in their chin strap loops.
I wonder why there are so many variations in chin strap loops?
Well wonder no more,
The M1 helmet was being mass produced at the same time it was being designed and developed. It was a new innovation to have a complete liner separate from the metal helmet and the Army and private industry were figuring out how to make it without a blueprint so there was a lot of experimentation followed by improvements.
The reason this happened is largely due to a man named Robert P. Patterson. He was the Assistant Secretary of War in 1940 when the Army requested approval to order more "Trench Style" helmets. Patterson had been a Major serving in France during WWI and had no intention of sending U.S. Soldiers into another war with the old Doughboy helmet of 1917. When he refused to sign the purchase order, the Army Ordnance Department began the scramble to create the first truly "All American" helmet.
Big Red Says!
FIVE'S OVER - MOVE OUT!
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