Today's Tidbit... 1935 GoldSmith Sports Equipment Helmets ($)

This is the sixth of seven articles in a series covering the 1935-36 Fall & Winter GoldSmith Athletic Equipment catalog. Preceding each section of the catalog is a one-page cartoon about the history of that type of equipment, in today's case, football helmets.

Click the appropriate link for other stories in the series:

Consulting Staff | Footballs | Shoes | Pants | Jerseys | Helmets | Shoulder Pads | Miscellaneous

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In true football tradition, GoldSmith pulled on the history of military helmet use to protect participants' noggins. Football headgear resembling those used in wrestling arrived in the early 1890s, but true helmets that offered mechanical protection waited until the late 1890s. And while it had nothing to do with wearing a helmet, they also point out that Brick Muller threw a 70-yard touchdown pass in the 1920 Rose Bowl. Actually, Muller’s long pass came in the 1921 Rose Bowl and was credited as a 40-yard TD pass, though Muller had dropped back 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage before throwing it to the goal line.

As I wrote in an earlier story about variations in winged helmet designs, there were many variations on the winged helmet theme. For example, the Viking model had a double-wing pattern, the AH had a pronounced forehead pad and padded straps on the crown, and VH with crown straps and less external padding.