Today's Tidbit... Variations on the Winged Helmet Theme

A team wearing winged helmets plays in the Big Ten Championship game tonight. That team, which goes unnamed by people in Ohio, began wearing their version of winged helmets when Fritz Crisler brought the look with him from Princeton in 1937.

Nowadays, it seems like every team wearing winged helmets models them after Princeton, Michigan, and Delaware, but there were many styles of forehead pads and crown straps besides the one topping the heads of Michigan men.

To honor the humble helmets of yesteryear, let’s take a walk down memory lane by reviewing helmets offered by four brands in their 1930s and 1940s catalogs. (Be sure to check out the Mercury model in the Reach catalog immediately below.)

Click to enlarge the images.

(1934 Fall 1935 Winter Reach Wright & Ditson Catalog)

(1938-39 Sutcliffe Athletic Equipment)

(1938-39 Wilson Fall and Winter Catalog)

(1940 GoldSmith Preferred Sports Equipment Fall & Winter)

The 1934-1935 Reach catalog has more style variations than the other brands, all of which came out a few years later, but it appears multiple brands settled on the winged look we have grown accustomed.

Do you have a favorite winged helmet or a team you want to see donning one?

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