Original antique1860-on British Officers Pith Helmet Foreign Service India Boer

Description

Especially after the Indian Mutiny, the British military moved to less formal and more practical uniforms and helmets, switching to white and eventually khaki.
The new permanent style of headgear was a cork helmet that was ordered for European officers in native regiments. Messrs. Hawkes and Co. of London, a company that may have had the original sole patent for making such headgear, was commissioned with the task of producing these first helmets.
Carman also writes that the helmet "was to be covered in white cloth with a regimental pugri (puggaree) and a gilt curb chin-chain." From 1860, a cork helmet with an air vent at the top was issued to all regiments serving in India. It was this style of helmet that was used during the Abyssinian campaign in 1868 and in the following Ashanti War of 1874 in West Africa. In June 1877, a white helmet of similar design was officially authorized for wear by all ranks throughout the Empire.
Labeled the "Foreign Service Helmet," it was made of cork covered in white cloth with six seams. Peaks and sides were bound in white cloth, with a one-inch wide piece of cloth sewn around the headband above the peaks. This was covered by a puggaree in certain stations such as Hong Kong, Bermuda and Malta. The back peak measured 12" from the crown to the edge. The front peak measured 10", but as these were handmade, variations are certainly encountered. A zinc button covered in white cloth was fitted to the top of the helmet.