Helmet logo treatment

[B-Rich]

Came across a post on a local history page about playground football in my area back in the 1970s. The poster included a photo of his old Metairie (colloquially, Metry) Playground Blue Devils helmet from either 1978/1979 (he should have turned it in to the playground at the end of the season, but that's another story).   Anyway, after looking at the photo closely, it jogged my memory.  I played for another playground (Lakeshore Playground Indians) in the same time period and I had forgotten that our helmets were like this one, and very different from traditional helmets in terms of the logo.

 

As most of us know, generally college and pro helmets (and I assume high school helmets today, at least they were that way back when I played in the early 80s) have decals directly on top of the helmet shell, and most are replaced each game.

 

These playground helmets had the logo decal on a 'base' helmet surface, which was then covered with a clear "outer" shell. The clear outer shell got worn, scuffed, and aged, but the logo decal stayed protected underneath and unmarked:

 

Pretty sure this was done as a cost-saving measure for public playground use, too-- these helmets could be used over and over each fall and still have a clean logo, maybe with a sanding/polish of the clear surface?

 

Anyone else ever seen this type of helmet or familiar with it?

[Discrim]

Never seen one in person, but I recall reading that college teams and even some NFL teams used clear shells in the 70s.

EDIT: A little history lesson from @Gothamite's Packers uni blog...meant to link this last night, but it slipped my mind.  And wow, clear shells were around FAR earlier than I thought.  That explains a lot regarding the "gold" helmets the Lions wore in the early and mid 50s despite them never wearing gold of any kind before or since.

[raz]

Dallas Cowboys used clear shells in the '70s, esp. Roger Staubach. 

 

You can kind of see it here:

 

 

[kandor5]

Wore those my first season in college back in 1974.  Our brand was McGregor, with the striping and side decal on the inner wall of the clear outer shell.  It was not a "suspension" type helmet; the padding was affixed directly to the shell.  It was not comfortable.

[Discrim]

I can definitely see it, now that I know what I'm looking for.  The reflection on a modern shell and striping wouldn't be quite as uniform as it is on Staubach here, if I'm correct.

[GeauxColonels]

Now I want a Metry Devils helmet.

[B-Rich]

5 hours ago, GeauxColonels said:

Now I want a Metry Devils helmet.

 
BLUE Devils!!

 

(And, as an aside, it's now Pontiff Playground, renamed after early 2000s LSU baseball team captain Wally Pontiff, who played there as a kid.  He died suddenly at the age of 22, of a genetic heart disease which caused a thickening of the heart muscle....  I volunteer coached my daughters and many other kids for years at Pontiff; they are still the Blue Devils and now typically use a variation of the old AZ State logos

 

 

Found out that these clear shell helmets WERE quite a thing back in the day, and much more prevalent than I realized at ALL levels in the 1970s and early 80s. Here are several examples:

LSU version

 

Detroit Lions

 

Miami Dolphins

 

University of Pittsburgh

 

The biggest aesthetic drawback seems to be the two rounded bolt heads very prevalent on the sides of the helmet, usually right in the middle of the logo. 

 

[AgentColon2]

Am I mistaken or don’t the Bengals do this?

[dont care]

6 minutes ago, AgentColon2 said:

Am I mistaken or don’t the Bengals do this?

No, no company makes clear helmets anymore. They are painted black, then striped up and painted orange over it.