Michigan Wolverines Football Helmet, ca. 1940
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GUEST:
It's a University of Michigan football helmet. Somehow my father got ahold of it when he was at Michigan in the early 1940s. I don't believe he ever wore it, you know, participated in the football. Although, I suppose it could have been intramural or something, but he was never on their team or anything. And it's just been in the family ever since. And he was there before World War II, so it's got to be the first part of the '40s, probably-- maybe late '30s.
APPRAISER:
Well, and he acquired it at the university.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Well, that fits right for the time. And of course, Coach Crisler introduced the wing-front leather helmet in maize and blue in 1938 in Ann Arbor-- was the first coach to do so. And there we see the wing-front design, where the name comes from, of course. And it's just a classic helmet. Very popular program, of course, to collect-- with the Michigan program, the football program-- and it's any sort of game-used equipment. Very hard to find, especially the helmets. They're very difficult, and collectors really, really seek, seek out these types of items.
GUEST:
Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
Any idea of the value?
GUEST:
None, absolutely none. It was sitting on my shelf in the basement.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm, well, it's actually considered in very good to excellent condition, because, you know, of course, it was going to be on the football field
and take some knocks. So overall, really nice to see it in this condition. The value at auction would be $1,500 to $2,500.
GUEST:
Wow, very good.
APPRAISER:
If it did have a number on it or a name written inside, and we had the provenance that it actually belonged to a player who wore it on the field, you could double or triple that value.
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