Questions or comments? Email me at:
1902 Stall & Dean
The improved head harness refers to a helmet style consisting of a hard, rigid crown made of sole leather with padded ear flaps attached to the sides of the crown. The earliest variations of the improved head harness, such as the Spalding No. 50 (1899), included a leather strap across the forehead and metal rivets connecting the leather straps to the shell. By 1900 these features were removed. The improved head harness was manufactured primarily by Spalding between 1899 and 1903, but other examples from unnamed manufacturers also exist. Manufacturers discontinued the production of improved head harnesses in 1903 when the Intercollegiate Football Rules Committee banned the use of sole leather in football head harnesses.
c. 1900 Spalding No. 50
1899 Spalding No. 50
