Fire Helmet, "Foreman / Excelsior"
date: label: date made
content: early 19th century
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T. Gratacap, a New York City luggage maker by trade, is often credited as the developer of this style of fire helmet. Gratacap created a specially treated leather helmet with a segmented “comb” design that led to unparalleled durability and strength. The elongated rear brim (also known as a duckbill or beavertail) and frontpiece were 19th century innovations that remain the most identifiable feature of firefighter’s helmets. The body of the helmet was primarily designed to deflect falling debris, the rear brim prevented water from running down firefighters’ backs, and their sturdy crowns could aid, if necessary, in breaking windows.
label: Description
content: This leather fire helmet was in use during the early 19th century. The hat has an unusually rounded crown, with a metal band where the crown meets the brim, a metal strip across the crown from the sides of the hat, and a metal strip from the back to the upper middle of the crown. These supportive metal segments are riveted to the hat. The hat has a leather frontpiece that reads “FOREMAN/EXCELSIOR” in gold paint that is now obscured with age.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Fire Fighting
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Fire Fighting and Law Enforcement
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content: Clothing & Accessories
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content: Work
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content: Firefighting Collection
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content: Fire Helmets
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0233.0155
label: accession number
content: 2005.0233
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0233.0155
objectType: label: Object Name
content: helmet, fire
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: leather (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 in x 15 in; 12.7 cm x 38.1 cm